Fire Danger

“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life.” – James 3:5-6

Throughout various national parks, we’ve seen signs labeled “TODAY’S FIRE DANGER.” Below that title is a colorful semi-circle with an arrow pointing to one of five levels of danger: low, moderate, high, very-high, and extreme. “Fire danger,” writes the national park service, “is a description of the combination of both constant and variable factors that affect the initiation, spread, and ease of controlling a wildfire on an area.” It is calculated by analyzing fuel, topography, and weather: things like relative humidity, fuel moisture, and lightning activity levels. A moderate rating, for example, means routine caution should be taken; a high rating means that outdoor burning should be restricted to early morning and late evening hours. An extreme rating means no outdoor burning is allowed.

The fact that an entire field of science has been dedicated to studying the risk of fire spread and ease of its containment, and then been translated into rules which must govern everyone’s behavior, points to one truth: it only takes a spark to destroy an entire forest. This, James says, is how our words work. They are never spoken in a vacuum. There are constant and variable factors that affect the reception of our words, the spread of their effects, and the ease of controlling their outcomes. These factors may include the emotional milieu of individuals or the group, state of hunger, level of fatigue, pretexts and contexts, connotations and verbiage, triggers and past patterns, tones of voice, non-verbal cues and postures, and more.

James’ point is simple: we must learn to control our tongues and be aware of the effect of our words. Before you speak, think: what is the fire danger? What are the conditions right now? How is someone likely to respond? How is it likely to affect the group? If something blazes, do I have the ability to devote what it takes to contain it? When in doubt, exercise caution. The tongue can set the whole course of someone’s life ablaze.