You Have an Inner Pilot Light

On keeping it lit

Last year I dreamed that Brad and I were utility workers dressed in white jumpsuits outfitted with all sorts of gear. A small group of fellow workers were with us, standing in the middle of a neighborhood street at night. Brad and I knelt on the ground, our attention fixed on a diagnostic computer screen. It could sense when someone’s power had gone out in the vicinity, whether it was the electricity, gas, or a related equipment problem. The computer signaled that someone’s oven pilot light was extinguished in a house nearby, so we rushed to the scene.

Upon arrival, our crew noticed the homeowners were away, so we gently broke in the back door to set things right before they got home. In real life this would be an unwelcome intrusion, but in the dream it was benevolent—we would often work behind the scenes and aim to leave no trace of our presence. Kind of like Santa coming down the chimney to bring gifts in the middle of the night, or a helpful spirit that arranges for your keys to suddenly turn up after a panicked search.

While Brad and the others waited outside, I went into the kitchen with a bag of tools and quickly relit the family’s oven pilot light. I then noticed one of the burners was stuck on high. Realizing this was a fire hazard, I gently unstuck the knob so the flame could be regulated. Then I swiftly exited the home, and the crew moved on to the next job. Amen.

You probably know this, but just in case: In traditional gas ovens or heaters, pilot lights are a small flame that must always remain lit. Otherwise, when it’s time to cook or warm the room, the gas won’t ignite. What you may not know is that human beings also have a pilot light—a small, inner flame that burns quietly, almost imperceptibly, waiting to spark a fire when the situation calls for spiritual heat.

What is spiritual heat? Simply put, it’s sacred emotion, a special excitement about and adoration of the numinous, of God. Depending on the degree of temperature, spiritual heat ranges from a warm stirring of sacred inspiration to a smoldering coal of holy emotion, a steadily burning fire hot enough to sanctify a preacher’s voice or musician’s hands, all the way to a full-blown blaze that causes spontaneous singing, shouting, trembling, and healing.

Most people don’t regularly find themselves in situations that require cranking up the fire full blast, unless you’re leading a revival, Spirit House Meeting, or ecstatic healing session. But having experienced most degrees of spiritual temperature myself, I can attest that even my everyday words and actions are better served warm to hot.

Meaning, we all need a functioning pilot light.

Just like a gas stove, we usually don’t know our pilot light has gone out until it’s time to spiritually cook or help thaw an icy situation. There we are, ready to meet the moment-in-need-of-a-melt, but when we try to light the fire…nothing. We might still say or do something kind or helpful, but it won’t carry that special, sanctified flame.

What blows out your pilot light? A big blast of cold life-wind can do it, or a buildup of psychological debris. But another main culprit is lack of use. It’s really not uncommon to go through life at a relatively low spiritual temperature. Mainly because one can pretty much function just fine by societal standards with a blown-out pilot light.

Remember, spiritual heat is sacred emotion, which is different than baseline goodness, charisma, cleverness, chutzpah, creativity or even raw life force. Those are all great things, but I’m talking about the hot, sacred emotion that comes from the Fire On High. And a lot of folks have never felt it.

I was in my thirties before I truly felt sacred emotion or knew what it was. I had felt spiritual awe, deep inspiration, joyousness, and many sorts of love, but not the kind of hot-coal-of-the-soul that makes shamans shake and worshippers weep, sing, and shout.

My point is, it would not surprise me if some of you reading are:

a) just finding out you have a pilot light, or

b) have no idea whether it’s lit or how to operate it.

I’m also not saying you have to reach molten lava temperature levels (though I do highly recommend it and feel it should be celebrated and normalized). Brad and I just want everyone to know, especially as we start a new year, that life is better when your little pilot light is on, so you can more readily radiate when needed. And it’s always needed.

So, how do you relight your pilot light? The short answer is to do anything that puts you in contact with sacred emotion: soak in holy music, chant a prayer, read the words of a fire-hearted mystic, do Ecstatic Sound Movement. Anything that sparks a heart-flame. Leave the stress-relieving techniques, neuroscience-backed optimal living tips, therapeutic breathing, and other cool-temperature wellness practices for another time.

Your inner pilot light is made of, and lit by, holy feeling. It’s a tiny flame from the Creator’s love. Wrap your heart around that truth, and your pilot light will reignite.

As Sacred Ecstatics conductors—and parallel universe utility workers—Brad and I leave you with this additional maintenance tip. If you sense your pilot light has gone out, we recommend taking the focus off yourself and placing it on the field of relations. Do something to help light up someone else and your light with reignite in kind. The more we each do this, the spiritually hotter and lit up the world will be.

There might be times, however, when you need to call in a team of helpers. Fortunately, there is always someone nearby who can sense when your flame has gone out and make any needed repairs. This is especially true when you feel the need and send out a pure distress signal. Trust your prayer will be heard and the workers dispatched.

Remember that sometimes it’s better if you’re not home when they come; it helps the repairs be made without any conscious interference. Whether this work is seen or unseen, God’s utility workers on all planes of reality are doing what they can to fix your spiritual engineering, making sure that the next time you need to cook, the fire will ignite and be well-regulated.

I leave you with this prayer I’ve been reciting every night before sleep. It’s attributed to St. Augustine:

May the live coal of Your Love
grow hot within my spirit
and break forth into a perfect fire;
may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart;
may it glow in my innermost being;
may it blaze in the hidden recesses of my soul…

Amen.

Happy New Year! There is so much coldness in the world, let’s heat this place up together. Cheers to another year of unlimited re-lights and restarts!

A special thank you to all our Guild members and subscribers for warming our lives.

Rrrrringa!

Hillary & Brad

Thank you for hitting the ❤️ button! Really, it’s appreciated.

You may have missed: