Fire of Commitment: Fired Up!

Ever since the election I have felt burdened with worry.  I feel like we are living in a nightmare, and I have deep fear for the future of our nation and our world.  I am simply burnt out.

Or am I..?

What if what looks (and, I’ll admit, often feels) like ashes is actually an ember?   I’m not beaten down, I’m fired up!

I have heard people say with absolute conviction that they believe “God intervened in this election to give us Donald Trump”…

Really?

But actually, I think that may be true.  (Okay, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out for a minute…)

What if in our comfortable slumber and our easy complacency we were offending the universe by squandering our potential to be a formidable force for good?  Perhaps there is a divine energy that felt compelled to remind us of our collective power.  Of our resilience and our strength.  What if adversity is the only avenue by which we will achieve all that is possible?  What if getting there requires that we march down that avenue, called forward by our hunger for justice?  Hope is the flame that burns within the inspired soul, but our best intentions weren’t enough…

In striking the match I realize – nightmares end when we wake up!

Two Matches Burning

image ©JD Benz

From the light of days remembered burns a beacon bright and clear
Guiding hands and hearts and spirits into faith set free from fear.
When the fire of commitment sets our mind and soul ablaze,
When our hunger and our passion meet to call us on our way,*

Is this what it took to ignite the flame?

It had to get hard because nothing worth fighting for is ever easy.  It had to get deep because you don’t really learn to swim until your feet can’t touch the bottom.

It had to get dismal because the light only achieves its greatest impact when it shines into darkness.

When we live with deep assurance of the flame that burns within,
Then our promise finds fulfillment, and our future can begin.* 

~ Christiana

 

*Lyrics of the UU hymn “Fire of Commitment”, by Jason Shelton

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