Keep a Fire Burning

Lighting your way through Mirkwood

I haven’t written anything here for some time. I have reasons for this, but they don’t really matter.

What does matter is that I let something I cared about go to the backburner. Sure, I’ve been busy, but isn’t everyone? I’m not special. I had committed to publishing something every week in 2024. I’ve posted twice. To say I’m disappointed with myself would be an understatement.

I was busy, but not that busy. I could have made time if I had had the discipline. So what happened?

It’s very simple- I let the fire die out. I didn’t redirect the effort I was supposed to spend here onto something more worthwhile. The opposite, actually. I let myself get distracted by things that didn’t matter, stressing about things that didn’t matter, putting effort into projects or relationships that would just end up sucking me dry.

And this is what happens if you let yourself get distracted from your path. As the church fathers have told us, the demons are ceaselessly seeking to distract us, to tempt us and to waylay us. And even without the demons preying on us, we are weak minded, fallen creatures. Constant vigilance is required.

You may think this hyperbolic in reference to not posting on an internet blog. But this isn’t really about writing on Substack. If you can allow yourself to be distracted from something you care deeply about and were committed too, though it be very small, you can be distracted from anything, even the highest things.

And if I’m honest with myself, writing on Substack is not the only thing I let slip in this time that I’ve been away. This is just a tangible thing that brought my attention to a deeper problem, a more serious lack of focus that had taken place. A slip in discipline in one area will effect all others.

We can all too easily lose sight of our path.

We are given limited time on this Earth and limited energy to spend. If you let it, this vampiric world will steal every last drop of your attention and your inner fire. It will be gone before you can even blink. The world wants your soul.

We have to remember this, intentionally keeping our attention sharp and our minds focused. I think that in our age, more than ever, many that had the potential to do great things will lose themselves to distraction. Never before have human beings been so bombarded with a glut of noise and information and spiritual warfare. Through the screens and internet cables we are all being thrust unwitting into the depths of Mirkwood.

Many will lose their way.

With the internet and social media we have essential handed out crystal balls to billions of people that would probably have been better off in a state of peasant-like medieval bliss. There is no shame in being unable to look into the devils’ looking glass. Even the strongest should be wise enough to resist the temptation.

But this is the world we live in, and that cannot be changed, so what are we to do? How are any of us to make it through the forest and to the top of the mountain?

Amidst all this distraction, we must keep a fire burning. That is, that spark of fire in your soul, placed there by God, that spark that is unique to you.

We must wake up everyday and recommit ourselves to that spark and that path through prayer and discipline.

We must live in a state of constant joy and gratitudes for the blessings we have been given.

We must pursue our callings, vocational or not, with constant diligence.

You must keep your fire burning.

In the depths of the dark forest, it is all you have.

To dust we shall return

The path takes many turns. They are unmarked on the map. Through valley, grove, dell, and dungeon. A glimpse of the final destination is rare and fleeting, if seen at all, for the mountains are shrouded by the mists.

Yet on these twists and turns along the paths there may be found the greatest lessons and the most perilous adventures. To take the Quest is to greet your path, and all its turns, with courage and laughter. There are many ways to the top of the mountain and there are many tales to be told.