We are Brothers

There is something mesmerizing about a flame. Maybe, it is the warmth, maybe its playfulness or the fact that our dance with it has helped us to survive all those years. Despite or because of its flexibility we have never been able to master it. We have been playing with it to survive, to gain joy and we survived while being cautious of its tantalizingly dangerous effect. As argued by Fessler, humankind has developed psychological mechanisms specially prepared to controlling it.[1] However, this is fire and the ability to learn how to start the game, maintain and use it while still a child, which has been forgotten by Western civilisation and left our modern world only with burning desires. Desires that can challenge our human Brotherhood.

Fire is a game. But of course, the essence of this game is more than just joy and survival: it is life itself. As children we explore the world that surrounds, joyfully discovering every little stone, every little emotion, every little pain and we learn how to survive in this jungle. We secure our welcome into adulthood. As adult creatures we more or less consciously play with our and others imaginations, we gain more knowledge and sensations that with time become more or less understandable to us and to others. We deepen our curiosity and passion for life and its mysteries while dangerously playing with fire. We cling to this life with burning cheeks and our eyes wide shut. We learn how to feel.

Humans at play are four, five or even more - dimensional forms of art, as such we transcendent reality(s), imagination(s), space(s), and time(s). Captivated by this game we are both observers and active participants. Our mind takes on the created abstractions like on a journey and chooses which of the experiences to accept, analyse later, remove from the mind or open the gate and welcome them forever. Within real life, just as with play, peace and beauty coexist with shadows. Hence, balance is so much required. Within play, just as with real life , persistence of compassion, brotherly love, humaneness, kindness, consideration, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, gentleness, mercifulness, tenderness, charity, and generosity, must prevail because this is what the Fire is all about and what we live for- the Brotherhood.

Great movie about Brotherhood and the danger of loosing it: Agora (2009)[2].

References:

(Oscola type of referencing)

[1] DMT Fessler, 'A Burning Desire: Steps Toward an Evolutionary Psychology of Fire Learning' (2006) 6(3-4) Journal of Cognition and Culture 429, 429-451.

[2] Agora, Alejandro Amenábar, Newmarket Films [2009].

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