The Flame That's Familiar

🔥Today, a fire broke out blocks away from my home.

I stood watching the smoke rise as helicopters and planes circled to keep the flames from spreading. In that moment, I couldn’t help but think of the countless families around the world who have lost everything to fire. Homes turned to ash. Memories scorched. Lives changed in an instant.

And it reminded me of something uncomfortable:

We often don’t see suffering until it’s close.

We scroll past disasters. Tune out the pain.

Until it lands in our backyard or touches someone we know.

But compassion asks more of us.

It calls us to feel before we’re forced to.

To care without needing a headline or a personal connection.

To remember that every flood, fire, or famine is someone’s world turned upside down.

We are not separate from their suffering.

We're only one degree away.

A fire in your city is a loss in your neighborhood.

A crying child across the world deserves the same concern as your own.

And the pain we ignore today may become our pain tomorrow.

We can’t stop every fire.

But we can spark empathy.

We can’t fix every tragedy.

But we can stand in solidarity.

Every day, we can choose presence.

We can choose empathy.

We can choose love.

Let’s not wait until the smoke reaches our home.

Let’s be the neighbor. The helper. The hope. For our brothers and sisters across this small, shared world. 💛

© Nuri Dimler 2025