Keeping the Sacred Flame

When have we done enough?  At what point can we look at the world around us and say “this I have done, and it is good.  I’m finished.”

There’s no such thing.  There’s always more to do, until the world is perfect – and that’s impossible.  So “enough” is a moving target, and it’s always farther than where we are.

Is this a bad thing?  I don’t think so.  I think it’s part of life, and even a good part.  It gives us reason to move, to work, to try and strive.  It is what we are.  But it means we cannot say that we are done, we are finished.

It’s easy to say we’ve done enough.  And sometimes, we need to take a break, to give ourselves a chance to reflect and rest.  But we need to come out of that reflection and resting and move forward again to make the world better.

It’s never enough.  But every bit helps more than we can ever imagine.

Questions:
What do you do to make things better?
What would you like to see done?  How and why?
What is the biggest obstacle you face towards doing?

One of the prime duties of FlameKeeping is to improve the Universe.  Of course, at the moment we’re rather limited in what parts of the universe we can reach, so practically, it’s a call to improve our world.  Our society.  But what does that mean, practically?

It means we cannot disengage.  It’s easy to say “this is not my problem” and step away.  It’s easy to say that what we do doesn’t matter, because there are so many people that surely someone else will pick up the slack.  We are busy, after all.  We have so many things to do.  Surely it doesn’t matter that we don’t recycle/vote/turn off lights/take the bus/look out for our neighbors/whatever.

Only problem is, we’re ALL doing it.  If one or two people coast, it’s not a big deal.  But we all coast to some extent.  One person is adamant about voting issues, but doesn’t look to their own community to help solve problems.  Another cares for the people around them, but throws away an astounding amount of waste that they don’t need to.  Etc.  (and in no way am I excluding myself from this!)

So what can we do?  Clearly, none of us is perfect, and no one can do everything perfectly.  But we can do a little more than we do, and then maybe a little more than that.  We can stop assuming someone else will do things.  We can look at our heroes as people to emulate, not impossible saints that we simply admire from afar.

We can be heroes to those around us, if we reach out and try.  And if we try hard enough?  We can be heroes to ourselves.

Questions
What have you done that’s heroic?  What would you like to do?
How do you improve the world around you?  What don’t you do?
How can you view the people around you as potential heroes, and nurture their heroism as well?

I’ve recently made a big thing of social rules (“laws”) and punishment. However there is another social contract that we need to accept.

We have to share the work of maintaining our society, especially in the small areas. This is easy – but I often overlook it, and end up forcing others to do my share of the work.  This is both unfair and against the Flames of the other people.

In a small, shared house there are a number of jobs that need to be done, and some have to be your responsibility. In a town or village people are needed for social committees and to look after children (and endless other tasks). You may not have time to take part in everything, but you should be able to say “I do THIS for my community.”

I work 7 and a half hours then go home and collapse, and my own community contributions are often limited to those I can arrange through work time – but taking an active role in organizing or participating in just those events helps your bright flame AND the flames of those around you.

Questions

Do I contribute to my home? Do I often allow myself to let the flames of those I live with suffer from my laziness?
Do I contribute to my community? Do I allow myself to be open to helping my neighbors?
What are the costs incurred when I don’t do my fair share?

A simple phrase.  An unexpectedly complex issue.

With power comes responsibility.  If we have the ability to intervene, we have responsibility towards the situation to an extent.  When something begs to us to get involved, we cannot simply say “it isn’t our business” and step back.  At the same time, discretion is important.  Just because we have the ability doesn’t mean we must get

involved in everything that crosses our path.

We have the responsibility to those around us to not close our eyes to suffering and pain.  Even when something is “not our business”, it is the connection to those around us that makes us human.  It is easy to close our eyes to the suffering around us.  Far harder to get involved, and far harder again to get involved constructively instead of just reacting to soothe our own discomfort.

“Mind your own business” is a dismissal.  It’s a statement to back off and leave things to those that are concerned.  But I ask: what matters are best left alone, and what concerns us all?  This is not to say we should just get involved without thought.  Some things aren’t our business.

But some things are.

Questions:
What matters are worth getting involved in even when involvement isn’t wanted?  Why?
When is it worth it to take “mind your own business at face value” and leave?
What are the costs to minding your own business?  What are the benefits?

We are the eyes and hands of the Divine.  We are the levers of God.  If we see something in the world that needs doing, we have to do it ourselves.  We cannot wait for another to do it for us.

It is easy to look at the world and say “this needs doing.”  It is much harder to roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.  And sometimes it’s impossible to succeed alone.  But far better to tilt at windmills and try to fight the giants than to let the giants destroy all that we have.  Sometimes we will make the wrong decisions, but it is better to try and be wrong than to do nothing.  If we do nothing, all we assure is that nothing will change.

Change is scary.  Doing things is scary.  Sometimes we will have personal results that we didn’t want.  Sometimes we have to lose to win.  But we are the eyes and hands of the Divine.  If we look at the world and see evil, it is not enough to bewail it and cry out to God.  If we want something done, we have to do it ourselves.  There is no one else to do it.

Sometimes all it takes is a small push.  Sometimes it takes a life’s work and you’re still not done.  But if you never start, you’ll certainly never succeed.

Questions:
Are you living as a lever of the Divine?
What evils exist in your life?  What are you doing about them?
What would it take to do more?

We are all of the Divine. But sometimes, we lose our sense of connection, and our flames get smothered. But that does not mean we can’t ever regain our connection and respark each other’s Flame.

No Flame can be sparked without the desire of the person in question. Going out and trying to force FlameKeeping on people is a betrayal of the Divine and of the divinity of the people we’re purporting to help.

To help spark other people’s Flames, we must live honestly with our own. We must truly respect the Divinity of those around us, and we must respect our own. We can’t try to let other people live off our Flames. That’s no possible. Instead, we have to help people realize that they already have their own Flames, and are already Divine. There is nothing to aspire to in that. It is what already exists. What matters is what you do with it then.

The spark of the Divine lies within all of us. We can’t create the path: it has always been within all of us. Yet we can help each other unveil these sparks and fan them to Flame. We can open the way.
Questions:
How do you share your Flames?
What does it mean that everyone is already Divine and already has their own Flames? Do you let people live off their own Flames, or try to feed them off yours?
How do you live as a FlameKeeper? How do you integrate the Flames into your everyday life?