A Lesson In Building A Fire

In times of economic hardships, it looks like it is a boom for the educational sector to attract people into the service. And with the lastest news that more graduates are currently unemployed (one of the highest number ever), it looks like the target of getting even the support staff would be easily met.

Yet I wonder...
I hope those who do come into the service, know the challenges of the tasks ahead.
...that they will not be thinking about the job security alone, for the reality is that, to last in the job takes determination, guts, and that drive to reach out to others must be there.

Parker Palmer, in "The Courage to Teach" talks about the "fire within." It is the fire that must be able to sustain a person in this line...when we lose hope, the fire will still keep us alive.

But...
it is also hard work to keep the fire burning.
I remember a poem that talks about how one should go about keeping this fire burning steadily...and not burn out.

The best example of this analogy I can think of is that of how we try to start a bbq. A few years back, at the class bbq, two of the kids were given the task of lighting up the pits next to each other.

Both had the same materials. Both pits were similar, and because the pits were adjacent, they were subjected to the same wind condition.

I watched one child carefully arranging his coals, spacing them out, and placing only a few fire starters. The other child used more coals, closed together...and even added some oil "to get it started faster"

Lo and behold...
The second pit caught fire first, but the child was covered with thick smoke, and had to keep on fanning constantly to keep his flame steady, and allow the other coals to burn too.

The other child held is ground, fanning only when necessary at a constant, even pace. His took longer to start...but then Whomps. The whole bunch of coals burnt merrily, and he even got a little mini campfire going. And throughout the nite, he kept his pit going at a good pace, and the food that was cooked over it was somehow more even.

What is the lesson I learnt there?
To start a fire,, you need all the right things. But both had the same items.
Then there was the arrangement.
It is how you arrange the coals, where you place them. "Too much of it will not help" I was told.

The spacing between the coals was also important. At the beginning, you need to focus on getting the fire started, and all it needed was to make sure you find the best leverage....and when you need to keep it going, it is the effort that you make at the start that will keep it steady. Just because it starts burning a little...does not mean it will burn forever.

The passion for the job is like the fire.
And we need to keep that passion alive is we are to carry on for many many many years.

We need to then be able to find out our space too...without giving too much or too little of ourselves. We cannot afford to burn too quickly either...or too slow.


...Remember...remember...remember...
Do not let the light be snuffed out...
There is still a flicker...protect
and believe again.