It’s been one heck of a Holy Week.  The world watched as the spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral burned. I tried not to freak out about it.  I was more affected at the thought of history being burned to the ground and the symbolism of a burning church than I was the actual pictures.

Holy Week is important to me.  It is a time of fasting and thanksgiving, of self-reflection and attempts at selflessness.  It is a time of grief and celebration.  It is a vast swing of emotions all rolled up into one very stressful seven-day period.  At least, that’s how it has always been for me.  There are dresses and shoes to buy, hair appointments to keep, and lots of cooking to do.  And amidst all of that, I look up to catch a glimpse of one of the world’s most famous cathedrals engulfed in flames.

To make matters worse, this isn’t the only church fire to make the news this week.  In Louisiana, several churches were intentionally burned, and another fire broke out at the Al Aqsa Mosque.  I am thankful that no one  was reported to be hurt in any of these fires.

I feel like heaven is trying to get our attention.  These places where we go to worship and pray are important to us.  But I feel like the Lord is saying while He appreciates our care for our sacred places, people are much more important to Him, and they ought to be more important to us.

So this week, as we deal with the after math of literal fires, let us rekindle the flames of love we have for one another.  Love is the core of the greatest commandments.  If we love OUR things more than we love His people, we are doing it wrong.

May our hearts burn with passion and compassion as we show love one to another this week.  May the fire on our altars never burn out.

Mama Radford