#125 - ite, inflammate omnia
St. Ignatius Loyola would end correspondences with St. Francis Xavier with the command “ite, inflammate omnia.” “Go, and set the world on fire” or “go, and set the everything alight.” This command would be a guiding principle of the Jesuits from their foundation through the present day.
It's a brilliant prime directive for a spiritual society. The orders are simple, concise, and clear in a world of uncertainty and doubt. Go out into the world and spread the information and faith that we have, and do it with urgency.
Now it appears that our world really is on fire. It’s not alight with the pursuit of knowledge and communion with the spiritual. If you live on the east coast, your world has been set on fire by ash and smoke that have billowed down from the forests of our northern neighbors.
Watching a thin orange haze settle over the city was surreal. Stepping outside and being hit with the immediate smell of burning timber was jarring. Visibility limited to the end of the block was a new experience.
This was my view on Wednesday:
This was my view this morning:
Our experience in New York this week, is actually closer to the experience of many others across the globe. The bushfires in Australia in 2019 disrupted daily living for people for months. Cities in China and India regularly have a daily AQI greater than 100. When I visited Beijing in 2017, the AQI hit 300 one day. Walking outside in Beijing, I didn’t smell burning timber, but tasted aluminum and felt metal particulates in my eyes.
There was something humbling about the smoke filled haze that settled on the city this week. It was a reminder that though I am small, I am part of an interconnected world. Fires in Canada are a part of my life now. As an individual, there isn’t much I can do about this new fact of life. However it was a reminder that even as an individual, the summary of my actions does contribute to something that impacts others. In an interconnected world, our actions are never isolated.
The world is set on fire, but not as St. Ignatius intended. Perhaps the hazy days we live through will serve as motivation to extinguish the hazards to our environment, and shine light on solutions to environmental degradation.
Thanks for reading and apologies in advance for the sermon. Hope you enjoyed what I had to say, and I am curious to hear how the smoke/wildfire has informed your perspective. If you have any thoughts, opinions, or ideas please do not be shy. My inbox remains open.