Richard Rohr on Embracing the Fire of Transformation 

“How could God conceivably be a punisher? God as an abusive father? It can’t be true!” —Richard Rohr 

In this video, Fr. Richard Rohr invites us to reframe a metaphor of fire that is often shared in Christian circles. Consider shifting your understanding of Biblical fire by moving away from the fire of a punitive God and embracing a loving, refiner’s fire. From July to September of 2024, our Daily Meditations call us to embrace this refining fire as the fire of transformation.

Richard explains that when “we have heard of the ‘fires of Gehenna’ and ‘hellfire,’ it always has this negative connotation. In the book I’m trying to write on the prophets, I note that overwhelmingly, the metaphor of fire is never torture or punishment. It’s a refiner’s fire.” 

Learn more about how to integrate a refining fire into your life in this video with Richard Rohr.