A Hunger For More
October 2, 2009
"Raging Flames, Hidden Fire"
A grayish gloom wrapped its wispy tentacles about the hills of southern West Virginia. Even in the breaking light of morning, choking clouds of smoke masked the dawn with a surreal twilight.
In the evening, with the early advent of night in the hollows of the West Virginian mountains, the surrounding peaks were all crowned with rings of fire that ominously descended the hills, consuming the fuel of dry leaves and dead branches before them. Down the hillside they marched as if legions of small dragons were invading, until they were finally thwarted by fire breaks set up by soot covered neighbors helping neighbors.
Then, hours after it was thought that all the fires had been extinguished, a new line of fire would kindle and roar into life in another place, consuming yet another mountainside with its greedy flames. Again and again, day after day, fire fighters were called out to go and fight more fires… and fought them they did until there was simply no more fuel on the forest floor to re-ignite.
I have been told that the reason they had such trouble in getting the best of the flames was the presence of hidden seams of coal lying just beneath the surface of the forest floor. The elements had residually exposed these layers of flammable rock, but the human eye was rarely inclined to observe them, covered as they normally were by autumn’s blanket.
The fire would burn leaves and dry wood, igniting hidden outcrops of coal that lay in its path. The visible line of fire would move on, whereas another “fire” began subtly to burn also beneath the ground, following the seams in whatever direction they led.
Since there was no oxygen to speak of in the slow kindling of this coal, the “burning” was invisible. But the coal burned beneath the surface, nonetheless, and if the coal seam should happen to reemerge where more leaves or other flammable materials were in close proximity, the forest fire would spring up in this new place, confounding the efforts of those who gallantly fought to defeat it.
Blessedly, no lives or houses were lost (at least none of which I am aware) but the timber industry there would take decades to recover. After the fires had finally satiated their nearly insatiable hunger and steady fall rains conquered any rebels that might still have lingered, the hills of Raleigh and Boone counties looked completely desolate.
Blackened skeletons of trees stood forlornly in the gray mud. Soot so blackened the Coal River that coal itself could hardly have been darker. Damp smoke continued to waft through the canyons of those southern West Virginia hills for weeks, trapped on all sides by sorrowful mountain sentinels.
Such destruction reminds me of the inestimable harm that careless and malicious words can cause. False accusations, hateful words, and even “truth” spoken without love can all sweep the landscape of human relationships with devastation, pain and sorrow.
Behind the raging infernos of wanton and accusatory verbal condemnations, however, are those hidden “sparks of rumor and gossip” that lay hidden beneath the surface, kindling slowly but surely until they once again reemerge and start more devastating fires.
We rationalize such small matters of “trivia” within our hearts, telling ourselves that we’re just keeping others informed not considering even once the implications of the things spouting from our mouths. What we thought were harmless stories, anecdotes or jokes turn out so often to be sparks that usher in a fiery holocaust of ruin and humiliation for others.
“… Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell…” (James 3:5b-6 NIV).
Rumors and gossip easily find their way to “seams” of resentment, envy and malice. They follow the path of petty jealousies and ambitions until they reach the fuel of anger and indignation. And though we speak “warm fuzzy” words in one breath, with another we breathe little distortions and untruths that add up and explode into great big lies, broken hearts and dreams, and wrecked reputations.
“…My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Can a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?” (James3:10b-12 NAS).
The tongue surrendered to God, however, can bring about great good. It rejoices; it worships; it sings; it prays; and it shares God’s Words of life. The tongue that is under His control is a tool of affirmation for the doubting and a vessel of comfort to those who sorrow. It is an echo of God’s own great voice as Words of grace and life are uttered forth into the broken despair of those who do not know Him as Savior and Lord.
Our tongues can never be fully tamed by our own strength of will for “…no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of poison” (James 3:8 NIV).
Still, we have a power beyond the strength of our will and the power of our weak flesh on which we may rely for help in the taming of our wayward tongues. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you…. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:7-8a, 10 NIV).
The world needs words of healing and not of harm. Allow God’s power and presence in your life to begin the transformation of your words for, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11 NIV).
(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past fourteen years and is the author of The Fairy Tale Parables: Classic Fairy Tales Pointing to God's Love and Truth. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
*This article was originally published October 1, 2004.