In our last +1, we talked about Steve Chandler’s (human spirit) campfires and Phil Stutz’s (spiritual-plane) chairs and the fact that we need to rebuild both every day. (Note: Whether we like that idea or not. Hah.)

Today I want to bring another one of my friends and favorite teachers into the conversation: Alan Cohen.

In his book Spirit Means Business, Alan tells us about soul fires. He also tells us about how fires were started in medieval times.

He says: “Every human being contains a sacred spark that makes him or her want to get up in the morning and engage in a stimulating activity. In medieval times, fires were not as easy to start as they are today; you couldn’t just strike a match, flick on a light switch, or turn a knob on your gas range. You had to strike flint to steel—no easy task. To avoid having to continually start fires from scratch, people in that era carried a small steel box containing a smoldering cinder, which they sustained throughout the day by tossing in a tiny amount of kindling. Thus they could light a fire at will.

You and I carry within us a spark of spirit we can fan into a flame and energize our career and life. Your spark was created and is sustained by the Grace of God. No matter what challenges you face, how depressed you get, or what wayward paths you wander off on, your sacred ember glows. It is not yours to extinguish. It belongs to God and the part of you that is God. You can ignore the spark, refuse to fan it, or reduce your flame to a tiny glimmer, yet it burns without interruption. At any moment you can grow your spark into a fire by finding your passion, acting on it, and ceasing to engage in activities that dampen it. The existence of your divine spark is nonnegotiable. How much you allow it to light up your life is up to you.”

<- Well that’s pretty awesome.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never really thought about how fires were started before the modern era.

Apparently, the modern match was invented in the early 1800’s—making it relatively easy to start a fire. Before that, it wasn’t easy at all to start a fire.

So… In medieval times, people would carry a small steel box to maintain the essence of a fire. (Fascinating. Thank you, Alan and Wikipedia.)

And… I love that image of each of us having a sacred spark that NEVER goes out. It’s always there. It’s our job to fan the nascent flame into a fire that sustains us.

Remember that “At any moment you can grow your spark into a fire by finding your passion, acting on it, and ceasing to engage in activities that dampen it.”

Which is convenient given the fact that we need to recreate that spiritual campfire every day, eh?

Good news: We don’t need to start that fire from scratch. Our soul’s fire is always burning. We just need to fan the flames and help it roar to life!

How will you do that today?

Your Soul’s Fire #641

The Spark Is Always There

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A Daily Dose of Sanity