T.S. Eliot - Consumed by God's fire

What does it mean to be consumed by God's fire?

                                         The only hope, or else despair

                                         Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre –

                                         To be redeemed from fire by fire.

                                         Who then devised the torment? Love.

                                         Love is the unfamiliar name

                                         Behind the hands that wove

                                         The intolerable shirt of flame,

                                         Which human power cannot remove.

                                                     We only live, only suspire

                                                     Consumed by either fire or fire.

For a powerful discussion of this excerpt from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, read Fr. Ron Rohlheiser's article, "Curing Fire by Fire" by clicking here.

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Photo source:  Botticelli illustrates Purgatorio 27, Dancing Through Fire