Safe

The world does things backwards. This should, by now, come as no surprise, and yet every day Yahweh whispers mysteries into my being that show me just how backwards the world is.

It's funny, when I hear a revelation like this, I'm surprised. It takes a while for my mind to realize that THIS, and not what the world says, is how it is supposed to be--is normal. But each new revelation is a joy to receive, a dazzling splendor that opens me up just a little more to the Spirit and reality.

This revelation is about safe.

People have these boxes that are supposed to protect their valuables. They are usually made out of metal and have very strong locks that cannot be easily tampered with. The big versions are called vaults and are housed in banks. The smaller versions can be in someone's house or hotel room and are generally built into a wall or floor. These things are called "safes" and they are supposed to keep that which is valued safe.

But safe means whole.

Imagine if Yahweh, who values us beyond comparison, placed us in an airtight box that would preserve us in our current condition and keep us from being taken or tampered with. If this box were a really good one, it would also survive storms, floods, and fires. Nothing would ever reach us.

But we would never reach anyone, either.

Worse, we would be preserved in the condition in which we entered the box.

Ironically, that version of protection actually harms us. It keeps us from changing into what Yahweh has always wanted us to be. It keeps us from fulfilling our purpose. It keeps us from ever reaching the world, bringing all of creation together as One.

And so, the box isn't the safe. For in the box, we are damaged. In the box, people are in debt and incomplete. It is only when the valuable thing is out of the box that it can truly become whole.

One particular element is the most excellent at making wholeness: fire.

It is fire that is refining. It is through fire that Yahweh spoke to Moses. It is fire that comes with Holy Spirit and in which we are to be baptized. It is fire that, ultimately, burns away the debt, leaving us able to be joined to He who is One. Thus, we are identified. Thus we are complete. Thus, we are whole.

Therefore, in reality, the fire is the safe.