The Burning Warehouse: A Parable

A brother and a sister lived together in a loft in a large converted warehouse. The warehouse was on fire, and the fire was blocking the exits. As the flames engulfed their loft, they moved further in, to a loft that was not yet on fire. They did this several times, moving each time to a new loft. There were still some lofts that were unburned.

Just then, they saw the shine of a flashlight. A firefighter had made his way to them through the smoke and flames.

“You cannot stay here”, he told them. “You need to leave. Come with me.”

“There is no way out of the building”, they replied. “The exits are blocked.”

“I have a way out, back through the burning lofts”, he told them. I have come that way myself. I will take you back with me. It will be difficult, but if you follow me closely and do what I tell you, you will get out. I will be with you through it all and I will make sure you get through, as long as you stick with me. There are others coming back with me too. I will get you all to safety.”

“We cannot go back. It’s too dangerous!” they exclaimed. “It is much safer to go on, to the lofts that are not on fire. We have done this several times, and so far we have escaped the fire entirely.”

“There is no exit that way”, he replied. “You may be fine for a while, but eventually the fire will trap you. You will perish.”

The brother and sister paused and looked at the firefighter. He had come through the fire to save them. He was sooty and singed: he smelled of smoke and flame. They had a choice to make. Would they go on through the unburned lofts as they had been doing, or would they entrust themselves to this firefighter, and go with him through the burning lofts, braving the heat, smoke and flames, to reach safety?

“Come with me, please!” he said to them. “We do not have much time.”

They looked at each other. All sorts of thoughts raced through their minds.

“It would be wonderful to get out of this burning building! I’m glad this firefighter is here to help. He seems to know what he’s doing. We’ve been managing so far, but I don’t know how long we can keep it up. And I don’t know if my sibling will be alright.”

“The way out that the firefighter is describing sounds difficult and dangerous. We will have to stay close to him, listen to him carefully and do what he says. That doesn’t sound easy. What if he asks us to do something hard and scary, something we don’t want to do? It’ll be uncomfortable and unpleasant. What if my sibling doesn’t want to leave? I can’t leave my sibling behind! And what if my sibling wants to go, but I am too afraid?”

“The truth is, moving from loft to loft has not been so bad. We’re quite comfortable and many of these lofts are quite pleasant. We can keep going as we have been doing. We have time. There are lofts aplenty.”

“It’s not fair to be facing a decision like this! If people had done the right thing in the first place, we wouldn’t have to. It’s the fault of those people, the people in power. And the people who used to be in power: it’s their fault too. If things were set up the way they ought to be, and if people did what they should, there would be no fire, or at least the fire would not spread so fast, and it would be easier to move from loft to loft. We wouldn’t be in this tight spot.”

“Who is this firefighter, really, who is telling us that we have to escape with him? He is pressuring us with his urgent words. He says we are doing it wrong. Is he judging us? Who does he think he is? He says his way is better? Really? Just look at him, sooty and scorched! He smells awful and looks worse.”

“Can this fire even be escaped? Surely it’s inevitable. This firefighter is giving us false hope. OK, so he is burned and sooty, smelling of smoke and flame, but how do we know he isn’t a barbequer with a messiah complex? Is he is going to these lengths to deceive us for his own reasons? Or maybe we are imagining him entirely: perhaps the firefighter is a figment of our innate human desire to escape being consumed in the fire. Either way, this firefighter needs to give us far more evidence, extraordinary evidence, for us to accept his claim and go with him.”

“The thing is, we know there is no escape: this is how warehouse fires work. Our only hope is that if enough people all study the problem hard enough, using the latest technology, we can figure out how to put out the fire. Maybe this will happen soon: after all, we hear technology is on the cusp of a breakthrough. In the meanwhile, we can move from loft to loft until we can’t move anymore, and if the worst should happen, at least we can end our lives painlessly before the fire reaches us.”

“You know, we’d be much more comfortable and much less distressed if we were not always living in fear of fire. The real problem here is our belief in the fire. Living in a burning building is quite intolerable. Who can live like this? We need to muster the courage to make for ourselves our own way to live. To survive, I will live as if there is no fire. Sibling, do not mention fire to me ever again, otherwise it feels like you hate me and don’t want me to live.”

“Really, a decision like this is overwhelming. It’s far too much! I cannot handle the stress. Later, not now. We’ll think about it later.”

“Yet it would be good to get out. Now is our chance. There might not be another.”

There was a loud crash from the loft beside them as the flames burned through one of the supports.

The firefighter looked at them with understanding, but also with urgency. “I know you’re scared. But it’s time to go. Trust me and follow me. Are you coming?”