Burning What?

Elena* just hasn't been the same since her separation from Adelmo.* Something seemed to go out of her when he left her. Or maybe I should say something's gotten into her! Elena was never the domestic type but, when she met Adelmo she seemed to try. Settling into a marriage and parenthood seemed to calm her down a lot from her wild child past.

Elena, who is half German and half Hungarian, struggled with her Germaness from the beginning. She felt much more at home when visiting her family in Hungary. She related more to the Slavic experience and cultural happenings. She had a great job however, which kept her in Germany most of the time.

She seemed to just be going though the motions of life when she met Adelmo. Chosen to attend a business conference from her department, she expected this to be another boring business meeting. But something was different as she exited the elevator after arriving at her destination. The delicious aroma of food wafted through the air and served as invisible bread crumbs leading her to that meeting.

This lunch meeting was catered by a cook from Brazil named Adelmo. Her first introduction to Brazilian cuisine left her wanting more and I don't just mean the food. Adelmo was gracious and kind as he explained the Brazilian meal to the conference attendees. The attraction between them was mutual and immediate. It lead to marriage and a family and Elena was never happier.

In some ways Adelmo was the polar opposite of Elena. He loved home and hearth and he taught her to see the joys of domestic life. He also had a very different past than Elena. As I described before, Elena had kind of a wild past. She use to stay out all night dancing, there was the men and some of them married. Adelmo's past was pretty tame in comparison. He was a bit of a momma's boy, who enjoyed time with friends and family and didn't stay out partying.

He was also quite a bit younger than Elena. Some say that she was a mother substitute for him, others say that she was on the immature side and was mentally more his age. The marriage lasted ten years. Adelmo surprised her when he suddenly moved out of their apartment, but it had been coming on for a long time. When this separation and divorce got underway, Elena lost the stabilizing influence of  Adelmo and began to go back to some of her old ways.

It was hard for me to see this because I felt that her life had been going in the right direction. I was worried that she just might go back to some of her previous destructive habits. There was a lot at stake now. She had a son who needed her to be a good role model, and she was not as young as she used to be.

My worst fears were realized and before long she had joined a salsa club and was dating a man even younger than Adelmo. She was focused on her beauty, meeting men and having a good time. There was a definite return to immature patterns that had existed in her past. But, nothing prepared me for what came next!

I used to look forward to seeing Elena once or twice a year when I visited Germany. Now, my focus centered on how I could be a blessing to her. As a Christian, we are called to plant seeds of wisdom and offer godly counsel at times such as this. We met in Berlin at Café im Literaturhaus. I love that place!

I inquired how her son was dealing with the impending divorce. What I learned was disheartening. Her son's performance at school was suffering. The teachers had met with her a few times to discuss a strategy to fix things. Her reaction to this seemed to indicate that she was dealing with this problem by buying more things for her son and planning a vacation for the two of them as well.

As I started to fire off a litany of  books that I would recommend which might shed some light on the situation, I started to see that I was getting no support from Elena. She seemed to continue on with ways to comfort her son which seemed to focus in on gift-giving. "Oh Elena," I said "we all want to spoil our kids and make them feel special when life throws them curveballs but often that doesn't help and furthermore it might actually hurt them."

"But, I want to focus on good times ahead and new experiences." With this she pulled out her phone to show me the latest photos of their alpine ski vacation. The smiling selfies were endless. The appearance of happiness, rather than actual happiness. Not to put too fine of a point to it, but he even broke his arm on the trip.  Her attempts to mitigate her family crisis seemed doomed to failure.

Would she learn the lesson, I hoped so, but then she dropped the bombshell. "I am already planning a trip to The United States for Max's* high school graduation. We will rent a trailer and drive the pacific coast highway before visiting the desert southwest. Have you and your husband every heard of burning man?" 

"Yes, of course we have. I just read an article about it in the New York Post." She continued, "would you ever consider going?" "Elena," I explained, "you know that my husband and I are Christians right? The whole burning man event is in direct opposition to all that we believe. I don't think it is someplace to take your high school senior to either."

Elena seemed unprepared for what I had just said, and focused instead on the artistic and cultural importance of this event. I could not believe what I was hearing! "Elena" I said, "you have been sadly mislead. This desert event is a cultic, pagan gathering. It is dangerous not just physically but more than anything spiritually."

"Let's start with the name Elena. The name Burning Man immediately brings to mind the ancient Druid Wicker Man. The artists who gathered thirty years ago who created the ten day Burning Man event may have thought they were creating something new but, upon careful perusal it is clear that Burning Man is nothing more than a re-hashing of many ancient pagan practices."

"The Ancient practices of the Druids included having a ritual straw and wooden figure built yearly. After the figure was erected, the annual festival ensued; which included sex with Druid priestesses, dancing, drinking and ultimately culminated in the burning of that figurine. Much of what we know of this ancient practice is clouded by the sands of time. Was there human sacrifice? Some ancient sources suggest that."

"We can also favorably compare Burning Man to the rites that occurred during the polytheistic Greek and Roman festitvals of the past. The image of Gaia, the Ancient Greek earth goddess has figured prominently in Burning Man events, one way or the other. The concept of inebriation always figures into paganism too. So, the drinking and drugs of burning man is right in line with what occurred at the Bacchanalian feasts of Rome or at the temples of Zeus, Athena, or Aphrodite. Speaking of Aphrodite the goddess of love, how can we say the orgies occurring every year at Burning Man are any different from the sexual practices occurring at the Temple of Aphrodite? We can't."

Many celebrities, so-called intellectuals and tech gurus consider attendance at this loathsome event de rigeur. The elitist status given to Burning Man points to our civilization burning, not to artistic achievement. It helps explain why our loved ones such as Elena would consider taking their impressionable young men to an orgy dome. Yes, you heard that right orgy dome. It is nothing that hasn't been done before. People following like sheep the dictates of intellectual and trending falsities rather than cleaving to that which is wholesome and holy. I only hope that I was able to point Elena in the right direction. The one true direction that there is, Jesus Christ!





* the names and a few minor facts were changed but the story is real.