The Seven Flames

By Huub Oosterhuis

As everybody knows

there are seven flames in the universe

and together they form

the air that we breathe

and the ground beneath our feet--

in a word, they comprise everything.

But there are also

seven flames in every person

because every person is a little universe

and that is why there are

seven candles burning

on that candlestick.

The first flame is the flame of the sun,

which is the source and the watchman

of all things.

Every child is just a little bit

born of the sun

and protected by the sun.

The second flame is the flame of language.

People look for each other

with words of fire

and a tongue of fire that stammers

is better than a head full of brains

that is silent.

The third flame is the flame of passion

which teaches you how to love

and holds your whole body so tightly

that you become a burning soul,

a blazing tree that is not consumed.

The fourth flame is hunger and thirst.

It is written;

hunger is a fire that swallows stones,

thirst is a fire

that no sea can put out.

The fifth flame is God,

who sends out his sparks

into everything that lives,

up to heaven and down into the pit.

The sixth flame is the flame of music.

You can have this flame in your ears

to listen with others,

in your mouth, to sing with others,

in your hands, to play with others

and in your feet, to dance with others.

The seventh flame is the flame of hope

which makes people into

children, wanderers, and prophets

and makes them sing:

seventy times seven trees

will flower where we live

light will stream upon the water.

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