Crown Of Fire (30 page)

Due to circumstances beyond my control (writing fiction is like that),
Crown of Fire
developed a dual theme of pride and atonement. The issue of pride, raised in
Firebird
and continued in
Fusion Fire,
needed closure. Firebird's lifelong desires to excel and to be remembered aren't intrinsically sinful. We are commanded to do all things "heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (Colossians 3:23, nasb), which I understand to mean excellently, using all the gifts He gives us. As for Firebird's desire for remembrance—when Mary broke her jar of perfume and anointed Jesus for burial, He said, "what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" (Mark 14:9b, niv). We can aspire to be remembered for the right reasons.

Pride was always Firebird's temptation, though, and mine. Whenever I do something well just to outshine everyone else, or I insist on getting my way while ignoring someone else's needs, or I refuse to do something that I know God wants, then I set myself up as my own little Power. Fortunately, our merciful God rarely finds it necessary to let the Adversary break our proud hearts quite as dramatically as Micahel shattered Firebird's—or as utterly as the One blasted Three Zed (Adiyn's final vision of the shebiyl is based loosely on Revelation 1:13-16).

I do not feel qualified to deal with such a vital subject as atonement, so I portrayed this seeming death and resurrection as a parable for Firebird's enlightenment, rather than as allegory. At this point in Firebird's story, she understands mercy, her flawed nature, and the necessity of dying to pride and self. In her universe, true atonement lies in the future . . . but she grasps the concept only when Brennen acts it out. His action saves her from being destroyed simply for who she is. Similarly, Christ submitted to death in our place, rescuing us from the inevitable consequences of who we are: His flawed but beloved children, created in the divine image but tainted by our propensity to sin.

Jesus was not miraculously saved from death, though. Even more miraculously, He satisfied the demands of justice and then returned triumphant from death. His resurrection proves the victory. Death has no claim on us, and we too can step out onto a new Path.

Kathy Tyers Montana Good Friday, A.D. 2000