Will the Earth end in fire or in ice?

In his early poem "Fire and Ice," Robert Frost speculates about the end of our universe. Will it burn or freeze?

The eighth chapter of Revelation describes a third of the universe being destroyed by fire falling from the skies. So it sounds as if the universe will burn up. However, in Frost's time scientists were especially fascinated with the idea that the universe is running down.

Throughout the galaxies, stars were expending their resources. Our sun was also running down, and in a few thousand years the earth would grow cold.

Whether by fire or ice, our planet was doomed, but Frost wondered, "Which way?"

On a literal level, Frost is talking about the cosmos, but in the third line he switches to crisis on a personal level: "From what I've tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire."

Fire thus becomes a symbol for sexual passion with all its turmoil, what Johnny Cash calls "the ring of fire." So Frost votes for the fire of love as the destroyer, and there is biblical precedent for it. Canticles, or the Song of Solomon, in spite of being generally positive in its treatment of sexual love, also points out its dangerous side: "Love is as strong as death, passion cruel as the grave; it blazes up like a blazing fire" (8:6).

But then Frost thinks of hate and the strength of its hold on us. He twists his poem the other way: "I think I know enough of hate / To say that for destruction ice ... would suffice."

Ice, the symbol of hate, stands for the rigid, unfeeling isolation that immobilizes goodness and destroys life.

This is a poem young adults often study in one of the upper grades. It shows them how a poet can talk of one subject and simultaneously apply it to something else. But the best literature has many applications, and this poem of only 50 words, first published in 1923, can be a profound comment on our contemporary situation. Our planet is in danger from both sides, from the fire of desire and the ice of hate.

The dangerous desire we are experiencing is the greedy pursuit of more, more, more -- more than we need, more than we can even use. Our desire heats up the earth as we burn oil, coal, wood, gas, electricity. We are bombarded by people trying to make money by selling us new desires, new ways to use energy. And hate? In the Middle East especially, hate isolates people from each other and their own best interests. Hate drives murder and torture, pollution of earth and air, and even the obliteration of priceless artifacts from the oldest civilizations.

How are people of faith to respond to this destruction? In the book of Genesis, God blessed humankind and gave them dominion over the earth and over living creatures -- stewards of creation. Surely that means that we should devote ourselves to preserving and using the gifts of creation, not wantonly destroying it. Yet we feel ourselves caught up in a world-wide culture of waste, greed, and revenge.

One person, one family cannot do much, but they can take small steps to unhook from greed. First, we can become aware of how we many things we acquire that we won't use. The child (in Weld County) who went door-to-door until he had filled three garbage bags with Halloween candy was self-centered and immature, but he was only a child. Self-examination will reveal that we do similar things.

When we find greed and wastefulness in our own lives, we can choose to make one small change in our lifestyle -- maybe something as simple as not leaving the car to idle or the faucet to run. Then connect the chosen action, however trivial, with an intention to honor the Creator by respecting creation. Thus a small physical action can open the door to greater spiritual insight.