Smokeless Fire

Gungor begins "Smokeless Fire" with a child's question, "What would I like to make," and answers it with playful nonsense: a warble, a marigold mongoose, a purple plaid sky moose. The whimsy sets up the sharper question that follows, "Have we had enough war yet / Have we shopped enough stores yet," a quick turn from play to a culture worn thin by conflict and consumption.

The middle of the song hands the creative impulse over to God and the world itself. Branches wave, people pray, galaxies form and temperatures warm, and the refrain "Let everything have its way" repeats until the line breaks apart into single words. Desire is called "a pure smokeless fire," a flame that gives light without consuming anything.

The last verse changes what is being made: "A small fragile heart that breaks / That feels all the suffering / And makes it an offering." Grief becomes worship rather than something to escape, an idea close to creation groaning in Romans 8:22, the broken heart offered in Psalm 51:17, and the living sacrifice of Romans 12:1. The song closes on "Burdens becoming praise."