The Bonfire Sessions: Autumn

By Matthew J Distefano and Michael Machuga

The Bonfire Sessions: Autumn is a thought-provoking booklet that discusses: the current climate crisis and racial tensions in the United States, how power can and often does corrupt those in leadership positions, why tragedy and loss are often a catalyst fo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quoir
• Release date: Oct 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781938480737

Matthew J Distefano

Matthew J. Distefano is a regular contributor for The Raven Foundation. He is an outspoken advocate for global peace and non-violence. Matthew is married with one daughter and enjoys the great outdoors.

Book preview

To Speri, Lyndsay, and Elyse

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Permission for wider usage of this material can be obtained through Quoir by emailing [e-mail].

Copyright © 2020 by Matthew J. Distefano and Michael Machuga.

First Edition

Cover design and layout by Rafael Polendo (polendo.net)

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from the New Revised Standard Version and are copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission.

ISBN 978-1-938480-73-7

Published by Quoir

Oak Glen, California

www.quoir.com

Preface

Acknowledgments

AUTUMN

1. Twilight

2. Dusk

3. Midnight

Welcome to The Bonfire Sessions: Autumn. We are so glad you’ve decided to continue this intimate, bromantic journey with us. A word of caution, however (as if we need to tell you by now): we tend to burn the midnight oil, so please first grab a comfy seat, cozy up near the fire, fill your wine glass and your hand-carved pipe, and take it all in.

As you can see, we had a beautiful setting here in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and I say had because, if you aren’t aware (but as we discussed in our Summer session), the infamous Camp Fire wiped out just about everything. The lovely little grove of fruit trees in the south part of the property? Gone. The vineyard? Gone. The orchard smack-dab in the middle of the property? Gone. The garden? Gone. Even the fucking compost—all of it—gone!

What are you gonna do, though? Nothing except continue to have our bonfire chats. That, and clean the place up, which we’ve already started doing. It won’t be long now ‘til we get the garden beds built and filled with soil, the watering system in place, and all the trees and vines planted. The Shire shall live on, my friends!

Anyway, in case you’ve forgotten, what we are going to do in these conversations will mirror what we do on The Bonfire Sessions podcast. We’ll light the fire, fill our drinks and our pipes, and chat. About what? Anything. Everything. From discussions about our individual faith journeys, to conversations about the- ology and politics and philosophy. We’ll pretty much cover it all. At times we’ll be humorous, other times profound, but always with the spirit of friendship in mind. No matter what, we are friends. We may disagree