“In Praise of Fire” by John O’Donohue | From Those Who are Claimed by Multiple Belongings

14/12/2020 1 min
“In Praise of Fire” by John O’Donohue | From Those Who are Claimed by Multiple Belongings

Listen "“In Praise of Fire” by John O’Donohue | From Those Who are Claimed by Multiple Belongings"

Episode Synopsis

From Those Who are Claimed by Multiple Belongings | “In Praise of Fire” by John O’Donohue
Read by Jessica Young Chang, MDiv II

Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life.

The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s

TRANSCRIPT:

Let us praise the grace and risk of Fire.


In the beginning,

The Word was red,

And the sound was thunder,

And the wound in the unseen 

Spilled forth the red weather of being. 


In the name of the Fire,

The Flame

And the Light:

Praise the pure presence of fire 

That burns from within

Without thought of time. 


The hunger of Fire has no need

For the reliquary of the future;

It adores the eros of now, 

Where the memory of the earth

In flames that lick and drink the air 

Is made to release


Its long-enduring forms 

In a powder of ashes

Left for the wind to decipher.


As air intensifies the hunger of fire,

May the thought of death

Breathe new urgency

Into our love of life.


As fire cleanses dross,

May the flame of passion

Burn away what is false.


As short as the time

From spark to flame,

So brief may the distance be

Between heart and being.


May we discover

Beneath our fear

Embers of anger

To kindle justice.


May courage

Cause our lives to flame,

In the name of the Fire,

And the Flame

And the Light.

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