Blog Post
Glenys M Huws • Sep 28, 2020
Keeping the Fire
[A reflection from Where the Spirit Dwells - Lenten Reflections on Home by Glenys M Huws, pp. 6-7. Permission to republish here given by the author and the publisher, The United Church Publishing House. First published in 2007.]
Scripture: Acts 2:3-4
Using fire in sacred ceremonies is part of many religious traditions. My experience of sacred fire is in gatherings of the All Native Circle Conference and at wakes and funerals in First Nations communities. What I have learned is that gathering at the sacred fire is a way for a community to pray, give thanks, heal, teach and learn, grieve, celebrate, and be reconciled.
The attentiveness and diligence of the keepers of the sacred fire are humbling and inspiring. Being a firekeeper means making a commitment to care for and maintain the fire 24 hours a day for the duration of the gathering or ritual. These experiences usually last several days, and typically people attend to the fire in shifts, ensuring it is respected and never goes out.
Other than lighting the new fire of Easter, I know of no Christian ceremoneies involving fire - candles and incense notwithstanding. Some church buildings include a fireplace, usually in a lounge type room. I know some rural churches that are heated with a woodstove. By and large, though, a place for a fire is not usually considered an essential feature of church architecture, though there is an interesting exception in a growing trend in the Roman Catholic Church. Many of their new buildings include a great fireplace in the foyer or main fellowship hall as a symbol that this is the home of the Christian community.
The sacred fire and the great fireplace are literally and symbolically centres of warmth and light in our lives. The sacred fire is an outward manifestation of the life-of-the-Spirit that burns in each person. The great fireplace is a wonderful reminder for Christians that Jesus is the hearth of our life around whom we gather, and that, through hearts on fire, the good news is shared with others. One of the tasks of the Lenten season is to be watchful and diligent firekeepers as we attend to the inward and outward fires of faith.
Prayer
Christ, sacred fire, I acknowledge that, at times, the flame of your Spirit glows only dimly in my heart and in my life.
Help me to open myself to the energizing breath of your Spirit.
Jesus, heart of my life, kindle the flames of faith, with new understanding and deeper experiences of your presence in the world.
Be near me and enliven me, that I and others may live in and through your warming light.
Amen
Pilgrim Praxis
The genocide in apartheid and settler colonial Palestine urgently calls for urgent discernment and action. Could the ongoing rounds of blood letting and destruction finally end to begin a journey toward truth, and justice-based peace? I hope so for the sake of all who dwell in this (un)Holy Land.