“Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I have come to set the earth on fire,

and how I wish it were already blazing! 

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,

and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! 

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? 

No, I tell you, but rather division.’”

Fire is one of the most powerful forces humans can experience. When in college, I participated in a three week visit to March Air Force Base (now March Air Reserve Base) in Riverside, California. In that short time, the idea was to get an overview of all the operations of an Air Force base. One day, my group of cadets joined the fire protection unit for a controlled burn of a field on base. The dried vegetation was no more than knee to waist high and the operation was to be a simple one. I carried a backpack with two tanks of water and a nozzle to spray a pressurized stream of water at the flames, if needed. The dry fuel and a breeze contributed to a fire that nearly got out of control. After ignition, flames leapt at least ten feet high and spread faster than I could have imagined. My little nozzle seemed wholly inadequate. And it was. After a brief and futile effort, we retreated to safety, the professionals worked harder than expected to bring the fire under control and, after a few hours, they extinguished it completely. I gained an immense respect for fire and those who fight it. 

Ten years ago, the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs covered over 18,000 acres and destroyed 346 homes. My dad lives on the east side of the city on the east slope of the Rampart Range of mountains with only a city open space which connects to Pike Nation Forest at higher elevation than his street. It makes for great views from his back deck, but during the fire, his home was threatened. In fact, shortly after being given a 24 hour warning for evacuation, my dad, stepmother, sister, and brother were told to leave immediately. The fire had leapt over a valley instead of burning down one side and up the other, causing an immediate threat. They threw a few things in the cars and drove through smoke to a friends house, where they stayed until the fire was contained, not knowing if their home was still there. It did not get burned, but suffered some smoke damage, and the fire had come to within about a quarter mile. On my last visit, I hike up one of the trails from his street and soon entered an area that had been devastated by the fire. 

Life was being restored. It was amazing to see trees that bore the scars of flames, but remained very much alive. Of course, there were the dead and burnt remains of other trees, but there was also much new vegetation, new growth trees, and wildlife. Nearly ten years after the fire, the landscape had come alive. Fire is destructive, but it is not the end. In its aftermath, life returns abundantly. 

The fire that Jesus ignites upon the earth is the fire of his love. The spark which ignites the blaze is the baptism of his death upon the cross. It destroys sin and, one day, will destroy death forever. In its aftermath, new life is given abundantly. In our own baptism, we die with Christ and rise to new life. The fire of the Holy Spirit is lit in our hearts. This is nothing to be trifled with. It is the divine life and very power of God within us. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but it is a peace the world cannot give. The love of God in us, which cannot be controlled, tamed, intimidated, or bought, threatens to consume the ways of the world. But those who lose their life will find it and the cross is revealed as the tree of life! Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth!