Tested by fire

Choke, cough, wheeze—right now the valley where I live is enveloped in a thick, smoky haze, no thanks to multiple nearby fires that have blackened thousands of acres. The sun, gauzed by the smoke, rises and sets as a crimson globe. Health officials have deemed the pollution level as “hazardous” and are urging people to stay inside, if possible. Schools are even keeping children in at recess. As an asthmatic, I’m staying inside, close to an air purifier.


The fires started Saturday night with an intense thunderstorm that lit up the sky and pounded us with half hour of rain. When we drove to church Sunday, already smoke was boiling into the sky up a canyon just a few miles away. Within a few days, flames had crept across foothills within a mile of our home. The fire encircled the home of friends, who had wisely put a wide perimeter of gravel around it.

Winds blew the fire away from our neighborhood, but the flames continue to eat at scrublands of sage brush and dry grasses, plus parched timberlands. As I pray for the firefighters, I’m also reminded that fires can cleanse diseased lands. Unfortunately, when they’re in populated areas, they’re unwelcome.

Fire is also a powerful spiritual analogy. One comes up in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, which talks about Jesus Christ being the only certain foundation. What we build on that foundation must past God’s test at Judgment Day. At that time, the lasting influence of peoples’ choices will be revealed. Some will have used the spiritual equivalent of gold, silver or costly stones; others, wood, hay and straw.

That passage doesn’t specify what activities are enduring and what aren’t. But maybe this is a good question to ask: “Does this work or activity have the ultimate end of honoring and serving God, or is it rooted in boredom, selfishness or personal indulgence?”

I think about that as I find “indoor” activities for my time. I’m editing some articles and blogs, and cutting up fabric scraps for more baby blankets for the hospital. And as I look out at the haze, those “arrow prayers” go up for the men and women fighting the hot monsters in my area.