Love
Taking and receiving fire
November 3rd 2018
You have seen smokers in the street. Sometimes, when they have no match or lighter, they go to a passer-by who is smoking and ask for a light: they put their cigarettes end to end, and the former goes away pleased, thanking the other.
You might ask, ‘Why are you talking to us about smokers after advising us not to smoke?’ Because, as I have often shown you, certain acts in daily life teach us about more subtle phenomena. If men and women feel the urge to kiss, it is to light their fire from one another. They bring their lips close together, just as smokers bring their cigarettes end to end, to light something within each other. Sometimes the fire is lit, sometimes not. And once the fire is lit, it may not only consume them and everything they possess within themselves, but also ravage their surroundings. To love one another is to take and give fire, but this act requires much caution and great knowledge.