Inner Flame

'We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair' (2 Corinthians 4.8)

If you are anything like me, you are likely to be registering the uncertainty of the current global political picture in your nervous system, long before you are able to comprehend the many possible intellectual or social ramifications of such instability. Uncertainty is often interpreted by us, emotionally, as a form of threat; perhaps one which pushes us into a fight, flight, freeze or fawn response before we even recognize that we have responded at all. This is exemplified in the public reactions to, and discourse around, the pronouncements of world leaders, and reflected in the swiftly-reactive barometers of public opinion from financial markets to ever-changing narratives on social media.

When we find ourselves in these situations, neither denial, nor reactionary engagement tend to serve us well. The Swiss Jungian psychologist Marie-Louise von Franz once remarked:

“It's easy to be a naive idealist. It's easy to be a cynical realist. It's quite another thing to have no illusions and still hold the inner flame.”

As people of faith, one of the toughest jobs we have is to see the world as it is, and humanity as it is, yet still hold on to a flame of faith in the midst of such perplexity. We do not need to pretend that the state of the world does not wear us down at times, or that we never feel fearful about the future. But we do need to support and encourage one another so that it does not wear us out, or let us forget the true hope we have in Christ. Perhaps then the most helpful response to uncertainty is not to react to it simply on instinct, but instead to intentionally kindle the flame of faith ignited in each of us by our baptism. Then we can respond to what the world throws at us with greater wisdom, clarity, and confidence that the flame we share with others is a hope that can never be extinguished, a light that darkness cannot comprehend, and a love that never wears out.