Wisdom 3: Duality in Fire
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
As we continue to spend time reflecting on our duality, we revisit the theme of trial and endurance; we ask and we pray. From whence comes the strength, courage, and clarity we need to discern Jesus’ Way through the fires of life?
Adapted from a Favorite written on May 29, 2010.
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.
Worthiness is a quality we may undervalue in our culture that relies heavily on nurturing independence with high doses of self-esteem. As with all good things, too much of it becomes a bad thing, as my Dad used to say. Self-knowledge and self-esteem are not that far from narcissism; and self-flagellation is not a healthy tool for us to use when we step back to look at ourselves. Sadism and masochism are the flip side of a willingness to suffer for the sake of another. And if we are sisters and brother in Christ, we look to God for direction rather than to our own egos.
The human existence is a constant tightrope-walking along the spectrum of desirable and undesirable qualities.
From our study of James this year: Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-3)
The perfection God asks of us is not that we live a life without flaw, but that we persevere in doing God’s will, and in finding the good in the trials we undergo for the conversion and redemption of others. The joy we know from participating in God’s economy is far greater and longer lasting than the fleeting happiness we experience resulting from contentment we feel at the end of a good day. Suffering for show, or suffering for the sake of suffering is the flip side of the salvific suffering which Christ undergoes for the redemption of others. And if we are sisters and brother in Christ, we are worthy through self-sacrifice of our own agendas for God’s better plan.
The human existence is a joyful one when we persevere through trials in faith, live through hope and bind with others in love.
Lives lived in Christ shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble, and the alternative is to live as the wicked who receive their punishment to match their thoughts, since they neglected justice and forsook the Lord.
This is the wisdom offered to us today so that we might examine our motivations. In this way we discern the origin of our actions to discover if they are worthy of God’s love for us. Do we sacrifice for self? Or do we sacrifice for God?
Remembering that God does not expect perfection in all we do, we lift up our lives as sparks that fly in the dark night. Remembering that God asks us to be perfect in our perseverance through trials in love, we raise up our hearts like sparks that fly through the stubble of the winnowed field. Remembering that God asks us to remain constant in our search for truth, we rise with the flame of God’s love in us.
In the duality of fire that destroys when it goes beyond reasonable limits yet sustains when it brings light and nourishment to cold darkness, we rest in the wisdom of God.
To reflect more on the duality of fire, enter the word Sparks in the blog search bar and explore.
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If we get away from ambient light to look into the heavens on a clear night, we will see millions of stars. And it is all too breath-taking. The sky proclaims the builder’s craft.
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