Controlled Burns

By Maria Walker

When Debra asked me to preach it was a few weeks back, and the temperature had gone from, “Oh my word, will we ever not wear coats or see the sun again?” to “Y’all, this is the armpit of hell.” In the Walker home it felt like the never ending winter had apparated suddenly to go and torture some other climate’s psyche. But the folks in my social and professional circle were hyperfocused on how hot it had suddenly become. I get that Nebraskans like to talk about the weather, but in every conversation? Bless.

So, I was surrounded by talks of heat and the sun and feeling restrained by the burning temperature. I had to ask myself, “Self, is this the Holy Spirit, or climate change?” Which is a question I ask myself more than I care to admit. As a good human developmentalist, I decided the answer was both.

That brings us to our time today. If I am honest with myself, the image or fire and heat has been popping up in my life, particularly my spirituality, for quite sometime now. I recall journaling about my year in review as Joel was listening to bowl games this past December. Of course, I was listening as well (wink), but on the commercial breaks I would reflect on life and I could not shake the image of lighting a fire. My everyday conversations somehow often came to fires and burning brightly and this sense of heat.

Now, I recognize that for many folks, the connection of fire and spirituality and religion is…. How should I say this, troubling. When I mentioned to a fellow Abbey member I was preaching today, she asked, “Oh, what is your topic?” I said, “Fire and burning.” She looked a bit confused and said, “At the Abbey? You sure about that?”

Indeed, I am. Fire and burning bones. Another friend of mine asked, “So, is this like hell fire and damnation? Because I have heard those word from your mouth, Maria, but you were not in a church preaching.”  Oh, I was preaching… believe me, but today I am not talking about that kind of fire. That kind of fire evokes fear and anxiety. It's more in line with a raging fire that destroys and burns to the ground. Total destruction.

It's also not the type of fire to be endured for a process of refinement. It is something you can give.

The type of fire that keeps cropping up in my life is the idea of a controlled burn.

Controlled burns are intentional fires set to create change and growth in an ecosystem. Now, I acknowledge am not a fire ecologist. That's a real thing, by the way. I am moving a bit out of my lane here. But hang with me because I think the parallels between controlled burns and living our faith are worth exploring.

I want to note that these burns are actually referred to as “prescribed burns.” Yes, they are an actual way to remedy a situation. Not to evoke fear or the threat of damnation, but to create space for growth and emergence. They are healthy and necessary and desirable.

Let's look at today’s scripture.

Jeremiah 20:9 (NRSV)
If I say, “I will not mention him,
    or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
    shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot.

We hear the message of weariness not from doing too much, but not doing. The not doing creates the risk of the negative outcome, and the same is true for prescribed burns. Not being willing to go there creates a potentially dangerous environment.

The courage to lean into the heat that creates the fire that will create health takes a willingness to risk it.  I would say that not taking that risk is a recipe for danger as well.

See, prescribed burns reduce the risk of fatal fires. They are preventative in addition to being restorative. What would our community look like if we named those areas that could benefit from a prescribed burn? That may be able to grow and flourish with fire treatment? Would having the courage to ignite a spark burn away the restraints that keep people arrested in their pain and the shoulds of the world? Would that fire make space for God’s children, ALL God’s children to experience the joy of life?

I will tell you what I know about what happens after a prescribed burn. The land is healthy and fertile. Wildlife flourish. Biodiversity increases… Sign me up.

The burning fire that is shut up in our bones makes us weary. We cannot hold it in. Incapable of it even.  Fire treatments empower and give energy. Literally.

But these fires don't happen by accident. They require intentionality. Folks are monitoring things to gage the best timing and the best conditions for the most productive burn. Once those conditions are identified, someone has to be in charge of the treatment. Now, when I was doing a bit of research on this topic, I was desperately trying to find out what that person was called. Because that person has to have an amazing title, right? I was disappointed to say the least, but grateful to my friends Brett and Nathan and brother in law Brent for responding to my urgent texts. They shared with me this person is known as the fire manager. Fire manager? Surely that is not enough to capture the responsibility and awesomeness of such a person.

Not satisfied with fire manager, though it is correct, I saught another source for this answer and discovered these individuals are also called the burn boss. Burn boss.  Now that is more like it.

When our burning fire is shut up in our bones, we are weary. When we do not speak the gospel, and as Pastor Debra proclaimed last week, when we are not a voice of question with self and within our community,  and are not willing to be present in hard conversations rejecting absolutes, we are holding in that fire. Someone else is the burn boss. And they ain't calling for any treatments.

What would happen if we became burn bosses? Just imagine, we are all living into the energy that calls us to burn brightly in our community. We burn not to destroy or threaten or intimidate. We burn… and that light shines and makes space for restoration and healing and growth.

Before we go about the business of burning, I think some attention needs to be given to the things that ignite your internal fire.  Many of you know I work in youth development, and we call this spark. According to the Search Institute and the Thrive Foundation for Youth, sparks are “—the interests and passions young people have that light a fire in their lives and express the essence of who they are and what they offer to the world. Identifying those sparks, and pursuing them with the help of deep, supportive relationships, are critical components in the work of helping a young person thrive.”

Sparks insure that young people don't merely get by. They are not simply making it or surfing. Spark helps young people thrive.

The Search Institute goes in to identify that Sparks help young people “to be, and to feel, healthier. They tend to be less depressed, less worried, and more satisfied over- all. They place greater importance on being con- nected to school and making contributions to society, which are factors strongly related to school success indicators such as academic con- fidence and grades.”

Now, even as someone that spends the large majority of her week focused on positive youth development, I do not believe this is limited to youth. Sparking the essence of who we are and what we offer the world is a joy we can all experience. Those positive outcomes offered by the Search Institute in their research can be for you and you and you.

So, what is your spark? What pulls your attention? What keeps popping up in your life that you can no longer ignore? What is the thing you can no longer hold it in? What is the thing that let’s you love yourself and feel the Spirit moving? Knowing what sparks for you is critical in sharing that flame with others.

Once spark is ignited, how do we keep the flame burning? Oxygen breathes life into fire. Knowing what breathes life into you  can be key in sustaining the burn of your flame. As I mentioned earlier, fire talk has been a part of many of my conversations over the past few months. I recall a conversation I had with Joel about burn out and burn down. He pointed out to me that burn out and burn down are two separate things, but we may here the term burn out more frequently. This concept of our flame extinguishing from exhaustion is burn out. It's real, and so is burn down. Joel explained to me that he sees burn down as having the spark, but the fire has not been given the oxygen it needs to burn as well as it could. We can see there is a light, but it is not able to grow or share its energy. I believe communities like the one here at the Abbey can be a source of oxygen for our fires. Maybe it's an activity or some form of recreation that is your oxygen. It can be a physical space. And it can a ritual you keep with yourself. Sparking your flame and being your burn boss is nothing without the oxygen that breathes life into the fire.

Experiencing spark safely requires we not go at this alone. The burn boss has a team that monitors the fire and makes a pr scribed burn successful.  Who helps fan your flame? With whom do you experience deep, committed relationships that help you burn brightly or help you stay safe as you take the risk? Because  Remember, fires can get out of control… Let's not be naive about that. A team that is with you can help you boundary up. Those helping to fan your flame can keep the focus on the targeted area that best benefits from the burn. Be the burn boss. Be a teammate when others are burn bosses. Breathe life into sparks and fan flames for one another.

Because allowing the fire shut up in our bones to burn not only prevents our weariness, it sets our world a glow. We can burn away those things that are preventing our growth, and create a source of light to energize all of humanity.  That fire inside you may be the size of a match head, or a single candle. It may be the size of a brightly burning campfire. Whatever size it is, name it. Claim it. Be your burn boss. Energize others with your flame. Create a space of flourishing growth. Give light to the world so that we may all burn a little brighter and know the warmth found with speaking God’s love to humanity. May it be so. Amen.