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Abba Joseph stood up and spread out his hands toward heaven, and each of his fingertips was lit with flame. He said to the young monk, "If you want to, you can be totally fire." The challenge is ours as well: What, really, do we want?

Frederica Mathewes-Green is author of The Illumined Heart (Paraclete).

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A ready-to-download Bible Study on this article is available at ChristianBibleStudies.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

Also appearing on our site today:

A Daily Repentance WorkoutAs we grow in knowledge of ourselves, God’s grace allows us to resist habitual sin and grow in self-control.

Visit the author’s Web site at www.frederica.com

See Frederica Mathewes-Green’s post-9/11 article, “Judgment DayGod promised that calamity would follow disobedience. So why are we quick to dismiss it as a reason for the September 11 attacks?”

The Paraclete Press site has an excerpt of Mathewes-Green’s The Illumined Heart. The book is available at Christianbook.com.

Mathewes-Green is a regular columnist on Beliefnet.

Frederica Mathewes-Green, former columnist for Christianity Today, wrote her final column for the magazine in October. Her columns included:

Unrighteous Indignation (Oct. 5, 2000)

A Clear and Present Identity (Sept. 5, 2000)

Every Day Is Casual Friday (July 18, 2000)

Get It? (May 18, 2000)

Sex and Saints (Apr. 11, 2000)

Psalm 23 and All That (Feb. 15, 2000)

The Abortion Debate Is Over (Dec. 28, 1999)

The Thrill of Naughtiness, (September 6, 1999)

Escape from Fantasy Island, (July 12, 1999)

Men Need Church, Too, (May 24, 1999)

My Spice Girl Moment, (January 11, 1999)

Moms in the Crossfire, (October 26, 1998)

Gagging on Shiny, Happy People, (September 7, 1998)

Whatever Happened to Middle-Class Hypocrisy? (July 13, 1998)

I Didn't Mean to be Rude, (May 18, 1998)

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February 4 2002, Vol. 46, No. 2