Carrying the Fire

Carry the Fire: Stories are the Fire We Carry to Each Other

In Cormac McCarthy’s novel, No Country for Old Men, Sheriff Bell recalls that his cowboy father would carry the embers from the fire of one camp to the next. He carried the embers in an animal horn–a tradition learned from the Native Americans. The fire carrier held a special position in the tribe and for their society. According to Bobette Buster, Cormac McCarthy’s idea of “carrying the fire” had another meaning: to tell stories that engender hope and help others continue the quest. The stories we tell are the fire we carry to each other.

Since Rick and Heather finished A Grander Story: An Invitation to Christian Professors, many of us are reading more and more about story and how the “grand meta-narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration” affects our role as faculty. 

In a recent Missional Moment by Donald Miller looked at the “guts” of storytelling (from his book Storybrand) and how it relates to thinking about our story. What it missed, however, was an outward connection to the “grander meta-narrative.” 

The following interview below with Dan Allender fills in that connection. With Miller’s article, it will help us better “carry the fire.”  We think you’ll enjoy it. 

 An Interview with Dan Allender