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The two words of the title seem to fit well together, especially with the celebration of Pentecost as the conclusion of the Easter Season, where the symbol for the presence and action of the Spirit of God is fire. If we are open to the possibility of being personally affected by the Holy Spirit as an ongoing, growing, guiding, and inspiring force, “spiritual fire” will serve us well. Interior realities cannot be adequately expressed in words, and certainly not by definitions, but we need words to help us consciously focus our hearts and minds on the central purpose of our lives.
If we only acknowledge that we are spiritual beings, that does not mean that we act according to that simple truth. However, if we reflect on ourselves as being moved by, and touching others with, spiritual fire of which only spiritual beings are capable, the results are personal gain and blessings for everyone else. This kind of fire does no harm, but it warms hearts and enlightens minds. We know that this is true, not simply because we have been told, but from personal experience.
No one has been hurt by a kind word or helpful action on our part, even if for them it was surprising and unexpected. Whatever we do with good intentions, whether it is understood or not, still warms other’s hearts, coming as it does from the perhaps unperceived and gentle warmth originating in our own heart. Such ordinary movements of spiritual fire are usually only recognized as such when we reflect on those actions and inspirations of our day and notice how they elicit gratitude and thankfulness for being created and graced with such a capacity and desire for goodness.
Spiritual fire is not a form of spontaneous combustion, but an activity that requires us to do our part in providing fuel for it, not wood or other physical consumables, but a conscious openness to God, especially through prayer. No matter what ways we enter personal contact with God, the Holy Spirit liberally pours into us those movements of infinite love that encourage and enable us to act as those who bear love to others. We do not see how this happens, for it is not at all the same as providing a substance that could somehow be burned up in the process of loving. Rather, this kind of fire expands in us as we expend it, and, ultimately sourced in God, this fire always has good effects, no matter how others respond.
Come Holy Spirit and set our hearts on fire with your divine love.
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Our disposition toward people can only be called “ordinary” in the sense of being habitual, but the way we direct our attention towards everyone, especially in words and gestures, is far from ordinary in the effects it has not only on others, but on us as well. We do not become caring people by making a single decision to do so, but by daily choices we make in ordinary and extraordinary situations that occur day by day. When we were young, we might have followed examples of family members, teachers, friends, and even public figures whose images, whether real or projected, appealed to us. Later in life, many of us reflected on how we relate with others and made many successive choices that have influenced the way we act now.
We can gain a deeper understanding of our interactions with people, those close to us as well as those we barely know, by reflecting on our motivation for not becoming a habitually ornery person. Not surprisingly, the more we believe that we are loved, the more we want to be caring and careful with others at all levels of our communication with them. However, not all of us have always or even consistently accepted that we are loved, or at least not to the extent that we want to be loving toward others. Even the word “love” has been problematic for some, because it has been so badly misapplied to thoughts and actions that are anything but loving.
Some of us were blessed with loving families from the start; others found love, or were confirmed in love, later in life. However, we have always been immersed in the absolute love of God, the origin and giver of our unique lives, although we might only have begun to recognize this slowly, through human interactions in which God’s presence is revealed, as well as in personal prayer and occasional religious experiences. Beauty, such as we find in nature, whether a grand scene, such as the immensity of the heavens or the vastness of the sea, or inspirations that come in noticing the intricacy of a tiny insect or a lovely flower, are also expressions of God’s love for us.
Whether we think about it or not, when we are treated kindly or act this way ourselves, we are touched by goodness, another revelation of the loving presence of God among us.
Even ordinary love is never ornery.