The Story of God 众神的故事

In the town of Yazd in southern Iran, a priest tends a sacred fire in the Zoroastrian fire temple. It’s said that this fire has been burning continuously for 2,000 years. Generation after generation of priests have tended it, feeding it with sandalwood logs and banking¹ ashes around the timbers at night so that it never goes out. The priest wears a mask in case his breath pollutes the flame.

This sacred flame isn't god, but in its purity, in its lack of substance and in the comfort it gives, it’s one of the ways that people have tried to imagine the unimaginable and describe the indescribable—the very nature of god.

However you define god, and whether you believe in god or not, the world that we live in has been shaped by the universal human conviction that there is more to our life than life itself, that there is a god-shaped hole at the center of our universe. We've come up with many different ways to fill that hole with many gods or just one, with gods of hunting, gods of farming and gods of war, with gods of sea and sky. We’ve imagined god as a stern father figure or a fertile mother. We’ve pictured a jealous angry punishing god and a god of justice, wisdom and infinite love.

But why did mankind start believing in god at all? The answer to that question can be found in the caves where our ancestors first approached their gods, and in the fields where we still call on them for help. In the cities of the dead where the spirits of our ancestors have been honored, and in the temples where the gods have been appeased² with bloody³ sacrifices, but most of all, the answer lies in the human desire to be united with something bigger than ourselves, something outside us, beyond us or perhaps even deep within us. This, according to some, is the ultimate reality which is just another name for god.

This series is about the story of god and the different ways that god has been understood at different times and in different cultures, but in telling the story of god, we will also be telling our own story and understanding a little bit more about what it means to be human.

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word to memorize:

banking ashes / fire

bank the fire

Cite from "About":
Banking a Fire

Question: I would like to know exactly what 'banking' a fire means and how it's done. For years I have seen this phrase, 'bank the fire,' and wondered. It sounds like something magical one does to a fire so that it's still smoldering⁴ in the morning, thus making the building of the morning fire a snap.

Answer: Banking a fire is actually nothing more than the name implies. To bank a fire means to build a wall around it out of rocks or stones, or to build the fire next to a rock or dirt wall such that it blocks the wind.

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 appeased   

安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。
• They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句