Mondays with Muir - Hope
"...for no fire can be hotter than the heavenly fire of faith and hope that burns in every healthy boy's heart."
To my surprise, this quote of Muir’s is in rebuttal to his father’s warning of being thrown into the fire of Hell. After moving from Scotland to Wisconsin as a boy, one of John's chores was to clear his family's land for farming. This included building large brush fires to dispose of debris. The glow and heat from the huge fires were other worldly. Instead of using this glow to grow in Muir's young heart the wonder of the glory of God, or the hope of Heaven, his preacher father used them to burn the fear of Hell into him. Though even as a boy, probably 11 or 12, John knew the Lord very well. Despite his father’s harshness, he knew of the hope, love, and grace that can only be found in Jesus. He knew of it in part from its echoing in the wilderness surrounding him. The following is a paragraph from The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, in which this quote was found. While feeding sticks to a brush fire, John's father spoke these words to him:
"Now, John," he would say,
- "now John, just think what an awful thing
it would be to be thrown into that fire; -and then
think of hellfire, that is so many times hotter. Into
that fire all bad boys, with sinners of every sort
who disobey God will be cast as we are casting
branches into this brush fire, and although suffering
so much, their sufferings will never, never end,
because neither the fire nor the sinners can die."
But those terrible fire lessons quickly faded away in
the blithe wilderness air; for no fire can be hotter than
the heavenly fire of faith and hope that burns in
every healthy boy's heart. -John Muir
Reading this quote pointed my mind to Jeremiah 29:11-14
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you."
You will find me when you seek me with all your heart…..
Have you been around the heart of a healthy, young boy lately? Could you taste his zest for life? Witnessing the energy and enthusiasm that live in the heart of a young boy is somehow both exhausting and rejuvenating. There is no doubt a faith and a hope in what each new day will bring dwell there. I don’t fully understand why, but I'll find myself getting worn out from watching my eight year old son run and slide across the living room floor, over and over again. I suppose I’m worried something is going to break, either a piece of the house or a piece of him. In some way it feels as if he is spending my energy, although he isn’t of course. Perhaps it’s being aware of the contrast in the makeup of our hearts that takes from me. His is full of enthusiasm while mine is full of caution. In his heart anything is possible, but in mine I feel limits, rules and edges. Some of this contrast is useful for adulthood and wise parenting, but much of it is just bondage. Thankfully, my heart is also rejuvenated by knowing his. The joy, adventure, wonder, and hope that reside in his little self remind me of what seeking something with your whole heart looks like. This is the vigor we are to have for seeking the Lord at every age. It means being all in, not paralyzed by potential consequences. It means setting your eyes on something above what this world says ‘is’, or ‘should be’. The "heavenly fire of hope and faith" in Jesus that burns within us is stronger and hotter than any power in Hell or on earth
If you are anything like me, you may often find yourself entwined in all kinds of ropes that keep your heart earthbound. Ropes of worry, worthlessness, insecurity, pain, rejection, and fear tie it down and prevent it from lifting Heavenward. This is exactly when we need a fire like the one found in the heart of a boy. Seek the Lord with a fiery pursuit of reckless abandon, and not only will you find Him, you'll find that all those binding ropes were burned away in the process.
