The Fire of Love
In this second article exploring the science of love, we will consider the flames which erupt from the Heart of Christ, and see how it is that Love is Fire. (אֵשׁ: esh) Remember, these are symbolic reflections. The point is not to prove propositions, nor deduce answers, but to cultivate relationship! For through the symbol of fire, I, and many, have deepened their relationship with Love.
“For love is as strong as death,
passion is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Its flames bust forth,
it is a blazing flame!”
Survival
From the beginning of humankind, it was God's pleasure, as loving provider, to reveal himself to us as fire!
God was in the fire of our ancestors, gathering them together, keeping them warm, drawing their gaze! Fire in the wilderness is key to survival. It wards away the beast. It purifies the water and cooks the stew. It is the warm light that keeps us safe, and it is in this fiery glow that God continually called people forward through the wilderness (מִדְבָּר: midbar) of our human experience.
Without love, we are vulnerable to attack.
Without love, we cannot discern the way.
Without love, we cannot survive.
“The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
Fear
But fear of fire was also of prime importance to our ancestors… fire disrespected will burn and destroy! This is how it is with God, for when Aaron's sons approached God with unholy offerings, fire from his Presence consumed them. (Lev10) Moses himself hid his face from the burning bush, afraid to lay eyes on God. (Ex3) As Proverbs says, "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Prv9:10)
After all, is Love not the most awe-inspiring, and fear-inducing thing there can be? Even more than a raging fire, love strikes wonderful terror into our hearts, transfixing us with its destructive beauty! Certainly, encountering even a thimbleful of the vast, blazing Love which burns through the universe could be too much to bear! We must respect it, and relate with it in the proper ways — for all things relate to this ultimate Love according to their nature, and to step outside that is to risk being burned by what we cannot experience/understand.
Ah, but for me this has been a hard teaching! How can true love involve so much fear? For I know also that "perfect love casts out fear." (1Jn4:18) Our God who “is Love” is compassionate and merciful and slow to anger and full of forgiveness! But as with every relationship, there is a way to do it well and a way to do it poorly… When I truly love anyone in my life — a brother, a friend, a lover — I have at least a little fear regarding them — fear that I might hurt them or disappoint them — that I may damage the relationship we have or fail to love them how they should be loved. This fear sharpens how I see them with dignity and respect! In this way, I cherish my fear of the ones I love most!
So I certainly do fear God — I fear God because I love and respect God. And, it’s worth noting, back when my heart was completely unschooled in the ways of love, even fear of punishment served a purpose — a protective purpose and an instructive purpose. But as I’ve matured into love and faith, it seems there is no longer any room for this kind of fear (“of punishment” 1Jn4:18), for I know of myself, as Thérèse did, as God’s child, and can now “throw myself into God’s arms, with neither fears nor desires!” (Thérèse to Maurice)
Love is fire.
To it we are drawn, yet it will burn.
It can be our salvation or our destruction.
“There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed . . . And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
Union
Have you ever sat in a circle around a campfire? The shadows flickering in the background… the only places to focus on being the fire itself and all the illuminated faces. It's a place for companionship… for bonding. Fire brings us together, even today. A few millennia ago it was a unity experienced by the tribe every night — a gathering around a central point which protected us from the forces of darkness.
Fire is a unifying force in society. And in the forge. Want to weld some metal together to withstand pressure? Want to unite metals thoroughly into a single alloy? Bring out the fire! If earthly fire will bond and unify — how much with heavenly fire bond us to each other and to the entourage of angels and saints?
Yes, Jesus, bring out the fire!
Please, enter my life and bring unity!
To all the disparate parts of myself,
and with all my dear friends and neighbors!
But most importantly, fuse me to You!
If it is your will, may I become an alloy, my soul mixed with your heart!
Then I will be fit to be welded into the great project
— the work of art you've prepared from the beginning —
the living temple you're constructing!
You know best where I should fit,
so weld me into my proper place,
even if means I must endure pain and reshaping.
I welcome the fires of the forgemaster!
Purification
When a metal is smelted, all imperfections are melted away or incinerated, leaving behind what is pure and desirable. All the imperfections of my heart — my egotistical nature, my selfishness, my warped way of seeing myself and the world — they all can be burned away in the furnace of love! When you love someone — really and truly — it demands of you to become a better person — to become kind of person who can show love more excellently! This “demand” of love to grow and change is essential to the very nature of love, which is participatory and transformational.
When God works his heat upon my heart, it can cause great pain. I am attached to so many things that are bad for me, but to which I cling all the same! I want my stuff, my security, my reputation, my success… yet there comes a time for God to purify me of the illusion that my happiness depends on these things, or that my worth is because of them, or that they are the ultimate good I worship.
Yet the smelting of the heart often comes with consolation, because I can see the shiny metal peaking through the slag. I notice how I'm being freed from my compulsions… how I'm caring more for others… how I become more sensitive to the voice of God! Yes, these little treasures along the way give me courage, and confidence to endure! I will enter the furnace 10,000 times if it means I can be free of the world which drags me down… if I can craft a home that endures through eternity… (1Cor3:13) if I can find the son of God amidst the flames! (Dan3:25)
Christ, perfector of my faith,
come to me whenever I am surrounded by fire, and I promise,
I’ll turn my gaze to you!
May your Spirit work on my heart,
little piece of ore that it is,
and may I be smelted into whatever you wish me to be
— an ornament for your crown?
— a ring on your finger?
— a trinket in your pocket?
However you wish to have me,
I offer myself to the flames of your Love!
“For our God is a consuming fire.”
Passion
From love springs forth many flames of passion! "For love" people have achieved the greatest goods (and, when twisted, committed the greatest evils). We feel these passions in our chest — a flaming jealousy… a raging anger… a throbbing wound… a heat-wave of affection… a tender warmth. All these passions have a place in love — which like a well-tended fire must be contained and reigned-in to avoid wildfire destruction, yet must also be given fuel and space to breathe.
The heart of Christ welcomes the Spirit in to fan the flames of these holy passions, and stoke their heat with the wood of self-sacrifice! The flames of divine-human love are the everlasting fire which never dies away, and spreads from person to person — a conflagration of love — an inferno of affection — which, guided by Christ, will never cease to spread, nor to brand those destined for the kingdom life of love! It is by the flame of God’s love in us that we are sealed for eternal life, and by which we seal evil for eternal destruction! No other fires on heaven or earth can compare to the powerful, life-giving, enlightening fires of Christian affection — of Christ-born devotion — of the Love of God brought to completion through lives of voluntary service and eager self-sacrifice! (1Jn4:17)
“For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ.”
May we receive the Fires of the Heart of Jesus,
accepting the Merciful Love which consumes all sin,
entering the Divine Furnace which smelts us into great lovers,
struck by the Holy Lightning which enflames our heavenly affections,
to the glory of the ever-living God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen.
The next post is on The Cross of Love (will be linked when I release it).
Image Credits:
St. Monica St. George, Cincinnati. Photo taken myself (2024).
Photo by Josh Garza on Unsplash
Candle at a Taizé service, France. Photo taken myself (2025).
Photo by Quang Vuong on Pexels
Art from illustrator Valarie Delgado of Pax.Beloved (Etsy store) (Instagram).
