A bolt of lightning arcs across the sky. Sparks fly and fall on dry wood. Fire blooms into being. It creates, it destroys. It transforms. It powers our lives. We are of the Flame. Inside us is the lightning, that first spark. Let it glitter in our eyes.
What is fire? It is the spark of change, the instant of oxidation. It is transformation.
Is it metaphor? Yes. We are not directly fueled by fire. No creature, no matter how small we take it apart, has an actual burning flame inside it.
At the same time, it is a metaphor with truth to it. Our bodies are fueled by oxidation reactions. Without oxygen, the fuel for fire, we could not exist as we are. We even believe that liquid water is necessary for life in part because of its oxygen-holding abilities. Aerobic life is of fire. We are of fire, of that primordial lightning.
Fire is our safety and our nemesis. Security and terror. We are of the fire, but fire must be controlled if it is not to kill. And yet, fire is inherently wild. No matter how well we try to control it, it will still leap and spark with exuberance, and nothing will change that. Fire without and fire within, we cannot control the Flame. We can contain it and aim it, but we cannot control. Flame simply is.