Life is a Fire

A Poem by Nick O'Hanlon

Flames compared with deeds.

Life is a Fire

By Nick O’Hanlon

The original heat source, the first event of the universe; or so many scientists believe, was a fiery explosion. An explosion that is still expanding to this day. Stars were formed as a result. Some massive stars go supernova and blast their elements across the universe, forming new stars and forever altering the matter they encounter. Our star, the Sun, is a huge burning fire in the emptiness of space, happily sitting at just the right distance from Earth.

Make sure, if you are reading this text or hearing these words while sitting next to a fire, that you maintain a comfortable yet safe distance away from the flames and the coals. They might inadvertently cause you pain. But by all means enjoy the heat they give off.

Life is a fire, in a manner of thinking. Thinking about the fire, studying it, watching it grow and decay, this is how you understand life. Look at the Sun, look at the expanding universe, look at the cycle of birth and destruction in the cosmos. Life is a fire.

Humans keep the fire going:

Humanity is the fuel that will hopefully keep the fire of life alive in our solar system and beyond when the sun’s time is up. Other life is precious, but it’s kind of like cardboard and crumpled up newspaper. Cardboard and crumpled up newspaper are important for starting the fire, in my opinion, but they burn up too quickly and the heat that they give off does not last very long. Dogs and Cats are definitely involved in the fire of life, just like the dried-up moss some people use as fire starter. But is any life on this planet really going to be forwarding the survival, or destruction, of life on this planet and beyond besides Humanity? No. We alone are tasked with the long-term preservation of life, just like wood to fire.

Fire works together:

If you touch a burning match to a twig, the match and the twig might burn up completely, but that’s probably the only thing that will happen. A proper fire, and a proper life, requires connection. The sums of your life and your legacy will be, and should be, about the connections you share with other life and how you kept the fire burning hot. Your individual perspective and performance in life is important, but the real challenge of all pieces of firewood is to impact other logs so the bonfire of life continues to radiate strongly after your passing. I expect in the afterlife individual experiences and personal growth will play a huge role, but in this existence, the positive lasting impression you had on other life is all that we can knowingly aspire to achieve. We are all burning logs in the great fire pit known as planet Earth. What good is a burning log if you take it away from the fire? Some of us stay away from others and burn out in our own time. Those people still give off heat as those who burn with the group. Sometimes these people roll back into the flames or the fire reaches out and the log benefits the fire. It might take them longer to finish what they started, but they burn out just the same. It’s harder however to start a new roaring fire atop the coals of one burnt out log verses three. When we work together as a group, as a society, as a team, that is what lasts; that is where we burn the hottest and best protect the survival of our fire. Yes we need breathing room, as all logs do, but you will never see wood burn redder than when it’s surrounded by flaming coals. The most dangerous and self-protecting fire is one that burns together.

Neither firewood nor fires are created equal:

Ideal firewood is easily set ablaze. These people are eager to share fire with other logs and they share their own heat once they begin to burn. The best firewood burns slowly and gives off a lot of heat for the readers and listeners to enjoy, and for the betterment of the existence of the present and future fire. I think the best people give off the most heat and the effect of their flames lasts much longer than the average log. But people are not created equal. People are affected by people around them and the culture surrounding their fire pit. People and new logs on the fire are directly altered by the current state of the fire they are thrown into. Creators of fire should try and place new firewood on an even bed of coals or a solid foundation of logs, both of which will get the wood burning hot and thoroughly. The longer a piece of firewood burns, and the further its flames, and the combined flames of firewood affected by it, can reach; the greater effect it can have on the fire pit as whole.

However, not all fire nor fire fuel is equal. Plastic might burn easily and colorfully, but it gives off a toxic black smoke and a nasty smell. Paper towels might burn cleanly and thoroughly but it’s effects on an established fire are far from lasting. A fire that pleases its creators is objectively better than fire that does not. Now I’m pretty sure, not 100%, that a master creator of the fire exists. And if something like that does exist, it would seem like evil deeds and violent acts of aggression would be displeasing to it (just an intuitive hunch). Make sure you burn cleanly and help only that fuel of life which shares in your desire to burn for the others.

Life, fire, stars, footprint; see the benefit:

So when logs burn and give off energy and light and warmth, the creator is reminded of the good that the fire provides, and then continues to place new wood on the fire to keep it going. Now obviously there’s not someone who hands children down from the clouds to wishful couples, however maybe that’s exactly what the miracle of childbirth is and when we send sperm to egg it’s like an official request. Of course, please don’t take this too literally. Some wonderful couples can’t have children for a number of reasons and children come in all shapes and sizes and types for a number of reasons and I don’t think any of them have to do with God answering, or not answering, a request. Nature is full of random things, sometimes painful, that God allows to occur; whether or not you believe it. So too firewood never enters the existing fire in a perfect way and stars never explode at the perfect time and logs don’t cut themselves; but it’s up to each piece of wood to decide how they’re going to burn. When we create the next generation, it’s up to us to place them in a good spot so the fire will go on and burn productively. Hopefully they will see the benefit of the fire and do what they can to keep it going.

Remember:

Beware if you are reading this by a fire. Coals might explode in the direction of the creator. This is just firewood’s version of Humanity sending a probe into the cold and vast emptiness of space, hoping to find new territories to set ablaze.