Burning for something.

"Find something you will burn for. find something that you can sit, cold and calculating while flames blister and melt your flesh from the bone. find something you love so much that you will feel your life melt off your bones and sit, content, hoping people notice how important it is to you. find it and find it quick. life is short."

This is an excerpt from a post a friend made about four years ago when he was remarking on the self-immolation protest of a monk and relating it to passion and the power of teaching. We don't talk any more, and he doesn't know that I keep a copy of his entry taped to my desk wherever I go. Reading on it now in Prague, I am reminded of the flaming martyrdom of Jan Hus in the 15th century and the self-immolation protests of students Jan Palach and Jan Zajic in the late 60s.

Jan Hus, a philosopher, reformer, and theologian in the 15th century, was like an early and more Slavic Martin Luther. He had aims of reforming the Catholic church and his views were seen as heretical and therefore threatening. He was tried and burned at the stake in 1415. To this day, the Czech people, though not religious, commemorate the anniversary of his execution on July 6th.



Flash forward to Prague Spring in 1968. The Soviets invaded Prague, filling it with tanks, to help end the liberalization of the communist country. It was a decade of the Cold War where communism seemed to take a breath and a step back, loosening the reigns on censorship--and the intellectual community flourished. Jan Palach, a student in the 60s, made a revolutionary stand against the Soviets and lit himself aflame in Wenceslas Square. It stunned many. And a second, Jan Zajic, followed the next month, to ensure that the cause was not forgotten.





Talking with the film teacher over wine, we asked what she thought of these burnings. What impact it had on people. A student at the time as well, she shared classes with Palach and remembered his passion. Palach's act had the most impact on the students of the time. It was a mixed feeling of horror, admiration, and regret. Many wondered why he would do it, how it was not necessary to make such a sacrifice. Many others seemed to revere his dedication.

Self-sacrifice (especially by immolation) and martyrdom, are such fragile topics. Though Praguers commemorate these days of revolution and loss, what is their opinion of the act? It must be something fierce, as a country that barely sets foot in a church building still celebrates the sacrifice of Jan Hus every year. And Palach and Zajics dual monuments in Wenceslas still perpetually are graced with a wreath of flowers.

The jury is out with me. On one hand, I appreciate their passion--really, I am awed by their conviction. But at the same time, I am stunned. How could you set yourself aflame? What is worth burning for? Jan Hus at least had no choice. But these students, and several mock immolation suicides after--why? On one level, you can question the sacrifice itself: to die or not to die. On a second level, we look at the method of sacrifice: to burn or not to burn? What is it about fire that speaks so much louder than a gunshot, pills, or bloodshed?


At this point, I can only burn for my passions figuratively.


What do you think? Is there anything you would burn for?