Fire Tending

As I write this, it is cold. Many days the mercury goes below zero.  I find myself humming the hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter.” I have the woodstove going, of course. It is burning hot with stream visibly rising from the cast iron pot on top.

We use wood as a supplemental heat during the winter. Propane does not do the job on the coldest days. Furthermore wood heat feels luxurious. We would never heat the living room into the seventies with propane. But with wood the temperature rises into the toasty zone without making me feel I have to take out a second mortgage to pay the propane bill. 

Fire can be dangerous, as we have seen these days in California. It can also be a spiritual experience. There are few things more peaceful than sitting in front of a fire on a cold night.

Fire is a common metaphor for the divine in many religious traditions. It takes little thought to come up with biblical references to fire. From Moses to Elijah to Isaiah to John the Baptist and Jesus, the image of fire is used by prophets as a powerful metaphor for the Mystery that we call God.  

Tending a woodstove takes effort. It is not as simple as turning up a thermostat. The wood has to be harvested, cut, split and stacked. I only do part of that process, since I do not trust myself around a chainsaw. I buy cordwood that is already cut, seasoned and split. I do the stacking and some additional splitting in order to have a supply of kindling.  

Then there is the building of the fire, feeding it logs and adjusting the air flow. I confess that sometimes I get so lost in reading or writing that the fire goes out and has to be reignited. (That reminds me. I need to put another log on the fire!) 

This process of fire-tending is often likened to the spiritual life. I have used that analogy in the past. The spiritual life was a constant effort to keep the fire of the Spirit alive in my life. My Baptist tradition taught me the importance of revivals ... back when churches used to hold revivals.  

The nineteenth century hymn says, “Revive us again, fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.” The twentieth century chorus said, “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning.”  

Likewise, the spiritual life of the individual was seen as always in danger of dying out, needing constant stoking. Backsliding was an ever-present danger. “If you are not moving forward, you are moving backward,” was the maxim many Christians lived by.  

Discipleship was a process of repeatedly nursing a dying ember into flame, which is expressed in emotional and religious fervor. Times of private prayer and Bible study were attempts to foster feelings of intimacy with God. Spirituality was measured by one's experience of the Holy Spirit.

The success of a church ministry was measured by whether the worship service produced a sense of closeness to God in attendees. It was exhausting! It is no wonder so many Christians and pastors “burn out.”  

This is no longer the pattern of my life. It hasn’t been for years. These days at some level I am always aware of the fire of the Spirit that burns in the depths of my being. It is as constant and steady as my heartbeat. Actually it is more steady than my heartbeat, ever since I have been diagnosed with a heart condition that daily affects my heart rhythm. My heart may fail, but the Spirit does not! 

Spirituality is not like a fire in my woodstove. It is more like the burning bush of Moses on Mount Horeb, burning but not consumed, a flame that does not go out. That is the Presence of God that Moses discovered and which fueled his life. There is no need to stoke the flame. Moses did not have to feed the burning bush or cut wood to fuel the Pillar of Fire in the wilderness. The Jerusalem temple needed oil in the lamps, but the Spirit does not. 

This is the difference between religion and spirituality. Religion needs constant feeding. It is always in danger of dying out. Churches need continual input of money and people to maintain buildings, programs and budgets. Religion needs its prophets of Baal working themselves into a frenzy to get the fire going. Otherwise we are told that churches will close, the nation will decline, and the gospel will die out in our land. 

It is not true. A fire that can go out is not the Fire of God. The spirit that can die out is not the Spirit of God. God does not need our sacrifices or burnt offerings, as the Hebrew prophets repeatedly told us. The fire of God within us is an eternal flame. All we need is to live from that Eternal Life. What better time to discover that Divine Source than during this season of spiritual winter in our land?