Sunday, November 8, 2009

Playing With Fire.
























































If you play with fire, you get burned, right? Well, not for Brandon Caldwell, who is a professional fire spinner. Friday night, he was performing in downtown Staunton, and we went to see him. What an amazing show. We were allowed to stand as close to him as we wanted, which surprised me. We were only several feet away, and we could literally see the whites of his eyes. In the cold night air, I could feel the hot draft of the fire on my face as he threw the fire. This was figuratively and literally a breathtaking experience for us. I wonder what drives a person to do this kind of thing? The psychology of it all fascinates me. Are these people driven to escape death every day? It was frightening enough just standing so close and watching him. I talked to him a bit before the show. He told me that he gets burned on a regular basis. He also said that he learned how to be a fire handler while he was with a traveling circus in Tibet. I'm not sure if I believe him, but it is a colorful story that I enjoyed. Who is the king of all fire handlers? God's main characteristic is fire. Who knew? I would have said it is love. Deut. 4:24 says "The Lord your God is a consuming fire." And this is repeated several more times in the Bible. Throughout the bible, God has come down to man more in fire than any other way. He was burning in a bush, Daniel saw His throne in a vision, and it was on fire with a river of fire in front of it. God lit the way through the desert for the Israelites with a fiery cloud. And The holy spirit came down with tongues of fire. I could go on and on. Fire is fearful and awesome, but it also cleanses and refines. I wonder if man could survive without it? Our God is also an endlessly loving, patient, and forgiving God. No matter how close we get to His fire, we will never get burned.

3 comments:

SquirrelQueen said...

What a treat, this looks like an exciting show. He is very good. We are involved with desert racing and for them it is for the thrill of the speed and danger. The adoration of the crowds seems to drive them as well.

MadSnapper said...

I love fire and always have, I have played with matches and candles all my life. I wish I could have seen this, your photos are very interesting. When we were young, my dad had a pit that we burned leaves and our garbage in, rural GA no pickup. my job was to punch it up with the rake to make it burn. I spent many happy hours playing with fire and never got burned. but it is dangerous. I like to strke a match and watch the flame and during cold weather I used to have so many candles burning we did not need heat. With advent of Jake the dog, I have had to cut back to candles way up high. He is so nosy, I am afraid he might burn his nose or set the house on fire. Loved this post.

MadSnapper said...

yes, i remember Irma, i wish i could write like her. she was one hilarious lady. the story happened weeks ago, and then with the picture i took yesterday, the post was born. glad it gave you inspiration. i have to wait on inspiration and it gets harder every day.

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