Several nights ago I was sitting in the backyard around a campfire with some friends. Ever notice how when there's a camp fire infront of you, something about it just puts you in a trance? I took a second to look up at everyone else... everyone was in a deep stare at the flames. Why do we watch it so intently? What are we thinking while we're looking at it?
I began to think about the irony of how a fire, like a camp fire, can be helpful to a person in that it keeps them warm, perhaps cooks food, or provides light. However, at the same time, fire is a powerful, dangerous, deadly thing that can hurt just as much, if not more than it can help.
Children around a campfire are one of the greatest reminders about the power and pain of fire. I swear my pulse doubles in speed when there's a toddler wandering around and there's a campfire nearby. This beautiful, useful, helpful thing could cause so much pain to this naive child, and everyone that's emotionally connected to the child.
But not only can fire cause pain when it's touched by a human hand, it can completely destroy a whole forest in just minutes. Fire can turn into an uncontrollable monster that will quickly devastate a city.
Is fire something that should be feared? This thing that's become a sort of backyard summer tradition? A tool of human technoloy? Certainly, it should at least be understood and respected.
I tend to lean toward the fear end of the spectrum... yet, the beauty and the utility of it draws me towards awe each time I encounter it.
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