Thus far this year, neither my wife or I have needed to turn
the household heater on; partially because it has been a rather warm winter in
this part of the country. It was in the 70s last week. We have only had a few
really cold days, such as today when we awoke to below freezing temperature,
which is cold when acclimatized to the local southern weather. I would have considered this a
nice warm day during this time of year when I was living in Ohio. The other
reason that the heater has not been needed is because the few cold days have
been combated by using our wood burning stove. I think that I prefer it this way. Sure it’s
a lot of work but something primal calls that this is proper. As such I have
learned some very strong lessons about hearth work.
The fire in the hearth is the same as that which warms
our bodies. It is energy and it heats. Literally it is fire that keeps the
house warm and makes it a place that is livable. Likewise, it is the heat of
our bodies that is a sign of life. It is the warmth provided by tending our
spiritual inner fire that warms our spirit through the cold night and winter.
By tending that inner spark we make our life a happy and kind place by which we
are nurtured by its warmth.
If there is to be warmth; there must be work. It is not
easy to keep a fire going in the hearth or in one’s heart. There must be a
willingness to venture out into the cold. Practically speaking, to fetch more
wood, but it is in the depths of the shadow places of our being that we find
the fuel, the strength, of our Higher Self that warms us until the Dark Night
of the Soul passes and the Dawn comes.
To build a strong fire in hearth and heart, the process
must start will small steps. Without kindling it is very hard indeed to get
flame to stick to the larger logs that keep the fire going. Building up the
spiritual fire at the center our life takes time and starts small. Knowing the
sound of our own heart does not begin until we have taken the small step to
listen.
Once there is a fire going the work is not done. To quit
now as if some goal had been reached would be to allow the fire to die. The
fire must be tended. Sometimes the coals must be stirred, the logs rearranged,
or the air flow altered. The same is true in regards to walking a spiritual
life of which we are mindful. Sometimes effort must be put into stirring ourselves
into action, even completely rearranging aspects, or making tough decisions in
regards to what parts of life we will allow to grow and which will not.
At the center of this process stand our Ancestors. Reflect
back and know that all that have gone before us had to tend flames, both
literally and figuratively. The hearth was the center of their life and heart
and also, even if we have no literal fire-place, there is a flame at our
center for which we tend.
-Spanish Moss
"Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path."
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