Fire

Civilization and its institutions of culture guide fire, at their best, channeling wisely our human passions, maturely directing these forces into constructive production, or at a minimum into non-destructive venting. We dare not attempt to extinguish passion. Without fire, the inner and outer worlds die due to lack of heat and light. Religion, education, and the arts should serve the function of tending fire. When these institutions fail to provide sufficient guidance, humanity and our environment burn up or freeze.

Last night, we viewed a 2017 PBS program on Yosemite.  Even three years ago, climate change was shown to threaten this incredible ecosystem. The warning emphasized rising temperature, drought, and the risk of excessive wildfire, but the program also noted the necessity of fire in the life cycle of the giant sequoias (e.g., to release the seeds from the cone and to open space for seedlings to get sunlight). Of course, without water the entire natural wonderland is doomed. Overheating of the environment threatens the imminence of this catastrophe. Fire, water, earth, and air are all needed in proper balancing.

  A similar threat to the natural world can be seen in the human ecosystem with the reduction of impulse control. Persons in positions of leadership in politics and in the media fail to exercise sufficient reflection on words prior to making them public. Irresponsible mediation results in fake news, distortion (intended or not), and divisions that prompt violence and harm especially toward vulnerable sub-populations. Of course, as voters and consumers we fuel the wildfire when we are not turning our passion into the force of love, when we allow hostile emotions to reside within our hearts, even in those impulses to feel the other as a fool.

A civilized society channels fire into constructive work as well as re-creational activity. For example, competitive sports contribute a vital venue for guiding youth into responsible self-management of power, learning to direct combustive energy that is capable of driving achievement; but violence from players and addictive engagement from the culture prove the failure from coaching and from the wider arena of fans, parents, and sponsors. Each person needs an outlet for passionate engagement that creates and nurtures.

The coronavirus pandemic relates to the overheating. The consequent stoppage of “March Madness” (in the broad sense extending way beyond basketball) offers an opportunity for reflection and reform. Time and space have now been set to ask important questions: 

• What is most essential? 
• How do we live into the depths of love? 
• How can we individually and collectively dedicate ourselves to attending the highest values, including our capacity for tending the human spirit tuned to the divine inheritance?