Stir into Flame
/“Beloved: I remind you, to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. . . . Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.”
I love this image of stirring our faith into flame, of taking something that has turned into a dim flicker and teasing it back into a fire, encouraging that flame to burn again. I know how to do this with a campfire, but how do I do this metaphorically, spirituality? Especially when I’m not in a good space, or when I just feel meh about my spiritual life, how do I stir things up again?
A few years ago, I noticed a lot of people talking about burnout. It wasn’t so much about people’s faith but more about their jobs. Burnout is the opposite of stirring into flame, isn’t it? When we’re burned out, there’s no flame left, just cold ashes. Have you heard the term “quiet quitting”? That’s when people don’t officially quit their jobs but instead just do the bare minimum to get by. Quiet quitting seems to happen when the fire has gone out and there’s no real passion around the work, nor is there enough energy to officially leave. There’s also such a thing as “quiet firing.” That’s when an employer, rather than letting someone go, just treats them so badly that they eventually leave. That’s super crummy. And maybe it means the fire has gone out for that employer too.
Like our work life, there’s such a thing as spiritual burnout, when someone’s checked out spiritually, when everything feels lackluster, and maybe God seems silent or not present in prayer. Maybe someone is going to church and going through the motions of prayer, but still — nothing. Do you quiet quit your spiritual life when you’re just not feeling it?
I don’t know, but I’ve been there. Paul assures Timothy that “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” That’s reassuring. When my spiritual life feels like it’s just smoke and ashes, it can be because I’m not exercising self-control. I sometimes slack off in the discipline of prayer, even though I know it’s good for me. Instead of taking time to pray before bed, I scroll social media or watch TikTok. I know prayer is better, so why do I do this? Or, when I pray in the morning, I might go through the motions, but my thoughts are already on the tasks of the day, and I’m not really present. I could certainly use a little discipline! At other times, though, spiritual dullness is a sign that I need to be bold in my prayer. There are many and varied ways to pray, and sometimes the call is less about self-control and more about creativity and trying something new. So, I appreciate this reading’s reminder that God has given me self-control as well as the spiritual confidence to try different ways to pray.
God has also given us love. Of course God has. God is love, and God gives us God’s own self. Paying attention to that love helps me too. When I notice love stirring within me, there is God. When I feel alone and unloved, God is still there. Love is not an emotion, although it often comes with the feels. Love is a gift from God, and it dwells within each of us, and so I — and you and we — are never without love. Even if we check out for a minute, God just keeps on loving us.
And God has given us power. What does that mean to you? I think the word “power” can have a negative connotation, maybe because we so often witness the misuse of power. However, power itself is neutral. It can be used for good or for ill. Power that comes from God is always good. Sometimes I can turn to God to be empowered in my faith, to act for the good of someone else, maybe even to empower others. However, maybe because the idea of power makes me feel ambivalent, I don’t turn to the power of God as much as I could. Sometimes I turn to worry before I turn to prayer, but if I did the opposite and entrusted my prayer to God’s power, I would likely worry less. But that’s hard. I “should” and “could” do this, but, especially during times of spiritual smoldering, it feels hard to harness God’s power.
No doubt — the spiritual life can be hard. However, I look to the last line of this passage for encouragement: “Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.” Hm. Yeah, I can do that. I can guard it. When I can’t reignite my own spirit, I can at least try and safeguard my faith, remembering that God has given me self-control, love, and power, and I have help from the Holy Spirit. I can do my best to show up for prayer, to respond in love to God and other people, to trust God’s power, but I need the Spirit. God is not our employer, and God will never quiet fire us. God will never quiet quit on us either, whether we love God back or not. God’s energy never burns out, and when ours does, God fans our love into flame again. Over and over and over.
So, maybe there’s no need to worry when our spiritual lives are more smoky than flaming. Maybe that’s just the movement of a life of faith as it waxes and wanes. Even if we aren’t feeling it and sort of quiet quit for a minute, the Holy Spirit will stir things up. It will fuel and fan our fires. I may not even realize it, or I may not even want anything to be stirred up but would rather just live a boring status quo. It doesn’t matter. Stirring into flame is what the Spirit does.
So, Beloved, stir into flame the gift of God that you have, or just be patient. God will stir it up soon enough.
For Reflection:
How are you doing right now, spiritually speaking?
Have you ever experienced spiritual burnout or dullness or smoldering? Did anything in particular bring it on?
How do you stir up your spiritual life? What helps you to rekindle your faith?
What do you need from God right now? Maybe you could take some time with God and listen to what God is saying to you.
By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP
Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She enjoys music, dancing, and meaningful conversations.