On This Summer Solstice, A Call for Unity Through the Divine Fire Within

In celebration of the Summer Solstice, I share an excerpt from the book, The Circle of Life: The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr.

I’ve previously shared this excerpt but have decided to do so again as its imagery of the “great illuminating energy” of the “lights of the cosmos” unifying “all people on the planet in a great oneness” seems both appropriate and timely given the especially fractious current state of our world.

I also appreciate how the writers connect this cosmic light with the “unquenchable fire shining within each person, a light that is strong, deep, and enduring.” I don't know about you, but during these turbulent, often disheartening times I need reminding of this “divine fire within us” and its “energizing and healing light.”

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We proclaim that the lights of the cosmos unite all people on the planet in a great oneness. As the fiery stars, the intense sun, and the reflective moonlight shine on us, so they bathe each one who dwells on this beautiful sphere of life with a great illuminating energy.

We proclaim that there is an unquenchable fire shining within each person, a light that is strong, deep, and enduring. It is the vigilant fire in the hearth of the soul, maintaining hope and truth amid life’s many ups and downs.

We proclaim that the fire of those who have gone before us has never left this earth. We are heartened by the truth that their sacred fire has become an eternal light that leads us on, a fire continually blessing us, encouraging us, affirming us to live our life to the fullest for our own benefit as well as for the good of all humankind.

We proclaim that the fire within cannot be contained. It seeks to move out, to permeate, to enter into every place that lacks passion and vitality. When the inmost self is opened with love, trust, and confidence, an energizing and healing light shines forth to fill the corners of the world.

We proclaim that there is a divine fire within us that is immeasurably loving, inconceivably caring, consistently non-judgmental, and enormously passionate. This light will never give up on us. It will cherish us into eternity.

We proclaim that the light within us is beautiful, precious, and wild. We urge everyone to do all they can to tend this fire, to care for it with courage and kindness. Let the inner light shine forth radiantly so all will benefit from the power of this immense warmth and goodness.

– Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr
Excerpted from The Circle of Life:
The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons
(Sorin Books, 2005)

Related Off-site Links:
Love and Divine Fire – William Keepin (OMTimes Magazine, December 2018).
This Year’s Summer Solstice Is the Earliest Since 1796 – Rachel Treisman (NPR News, June 209, 2024).
Summer Solstice 2024 Marks the Longest Day in the Northern Hemisphere – Daisy Dobrijevic (Space.com, June 20, 2024).
A Summer Blessing – The Leveret (June 21, 2019).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Being the Light
• The Light Within
• Balancing the Fire
• Andrew Harvey on Radical, Divine Passion in Action
• Keeping the Spark Alive
• Thoughts on Christian Meditation: Fire and Light
• A Summer Solstice Reflection
• Celebrating the Summer Solstice
• A Summer Sunset Psalm
• In Summer Light
• Summer Blooms
• Summer Boy
• Beltane and the Fire Within
• The Sun Is All Around You
• The Source Is Within You
• Like the Sun

Image: Artist unknown.