"What happened to that piece of charcoal is what might easily happen to us if we separate ourselves from our church groups. Our spiritual flame 'n enthusiasm might easily fade away or even disappear. Even thou we are still the same charcoal (the same believer) but we might be left with no flame of God's love, no enthusiasm in ministry, no radiance of joy. And that's a very sad thing. Church groups are important for our spiritual growth, as we could encourage and support one another to keep our spirit burning from within." - Achillia

These words from Achillia's post really struck a chord with me, because I was like that once. Even though I've been in the choir for soo many years, there were periods of time when I didn't bother turning up or going to church, because I felt that there was nothing for me in church. I had actually contemplated of going to other churches (Christian, not Catholic) with my group of friends. I felt at that point in time that they were more bonded spiritually and physically to God, than compared to us Catholics.

Thankfully, I prayed real hard about it, and found the faith and love i needed to satisfy me spiritually.

Thus, I agree with what Achillia said, because it IS true. Once you stray far away from the church or your church group, for whatever reason, it will be really hard to come back, because the more time you spend away from church, the deeper the void that grows inside of you, and the harder it is to fill it back with the faith and love of God.