Fire

I've had a hard time this month. 

The world seems to be on fire.  First wildfire in Colorado (I'm sure I'll write about my relationship with forest fires at some point) and fiery rhetoric online.  Fires raging in nations far away, and then gunfire.  Random, senseless violence that rocks us all--however distant we might seem.

On Friday I prayed for a world free from fire, but I remembered the most typical benefits of fire--warmth and light--and I realized I could not do without them.

And then I remembered (what Alton Brown pointed out once, as I recall) that what makes cooking possible is fire.

Without fire, we have no soup.  We have no kabobs.  We have no roasted cauliflower (one of my current favorites).

Fire makes bread possible.

Fire gives us cookies.*

And so even though it seems impossible this month, I thank God for fire, and I ask the Spirit (who comes in tongues of fire) to gently guide us in light and warmth and sustenance as we learn to live in the firestorms that surround us.

*Okay, I suppose we could debate the relative merits of no-bake cookies, but, really?