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

Harvard Divinity School

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.