A Spiritual Haiku About Divine Truth and Revelation
Tend to your fire,
Or smoke will blind your vision;
Leave eyes closed to Truth.
Justin Farley
Tending the Divine Fire So We Can See Truth
In the stillness of night, a fire burns beneath the open sky. It crackles gently, flames dance like whispers of a hidden revelation. As the darkness deepens, the air grows colder, and the necessity of tending this fire becomes clear. Neglect, even briefly, will let the flames dwindle until smoke replaces flame, leaving us cold and blind.
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Our connection with God, like this fragile flame, demands our vigilant care. It’s not an endless resource, burning bright without effort, but a dynamic, living connection that requires constant attention. If we assume the fire will sustain itself simply by God’s love while we do nothing, we’re setting ourselves up to wake up in darkness, lost and disconnected from the source of warmth and light that guides our souls.
A Relationship With God Takes Work and Time
Consider the haiku poem I’ve written to try and illustrate this idea of the spiritual life as a quest to be a protector of a flame in the night. Each prayer whispered, each moment spent in quiet contemplation, each act of compassion or forgiveness is like placing another piece of dry wood onto the glowing embers. These practices are not simply rituals, but essential fuel that keeps our spiritual flame vibrant.
This isn’t works based salvation. It’s a rational truth of the way all relationships function. Grace excuses our errors but doesn’t excuse our neglect. What happens to any life or relationship you neglect? A seed never watered? A relationship you never have time for? A body you don’t take care of? They wither. They die. Because our connection to God is personal, it demands effort from both us and God. God always shows up. Us, not so much. It has to be a firm decision to continue coming back to the fire even when we don’t feel like it.
Yet, the mystical truth revealed in this imagery is deeper still. It highlights that the quality of our relationship with God is proportional to the sincerity of our commitment. Just as wet wood can’t sustain fire, hollow prayers or distracted devotion struggle to ignite genuine spiritual warmth. Authenticity is key; superficial actions or indifferent gestures offer little nourishment to the soul’s flame.
In a world overflowing with distractions, tending this spiritual fire is profoundly counter-cultural. Society often encourages us to chase fleeting pleasures, momentary gratifications, and surface-level achievements. These draw us away from deeper spiritual practices. Yet, the mystics remind us that these external pursuits are mere flickers compared to the steady warmth and illumination that comes from true spiritual intimacy with God.
Keeping Our Connection To God During Hard Times and Periods of Doubt
We’ll also likely find ourselves tested by life’s storms—the winds of doubt, suffering, grief, or disappointment. In these moments, tending our spiritual fire feels particularly challenging, even a waste of time. Yet paradoxically, it is during these seasons that our dedication matters most. It’s easy to nurture the flame when there isn’t any resistance to doing so. It’s a lot harder when the storms gather, when the rains fall, and we have to protect this flame with all our might. But keeping this flame going is essential if we want a guide out of the confusion and darkness, if we want a light to illuminate the path ahead.
The mystical tradition teaches that every soul is inherently connected to the divine; our task isn’t to create the flame, but to sustain and nurture the spark already given to us. If we fail to pour our energy into this tending, our vision grows dim, leaving us spiritually cold, confused, and disconnected.
Let us decide to be vigilant tenders of this sacred fire. Let our prayers and actions be heartfelt, our pursuit sincere, our devotion consistent. In doing so, we maintain not just warmth and illumination in our spiritual lives, but a profound, living relationship with the divine. As dawn approaches, we will find our spiritual flame burning brightly, guiding us safely toward the eternal light of connection and understanding.
ALONG THE BARREN ROAD 
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