So much of life’s meaning can be gleaned from ordinary elements.
Earth. The soil on which we plant that by which we live is nothing but clumps of earth. The hill and the mountains that we look up to for challenge and inspiration are nothing but mounds of earth. And we have indeed been fashioned out of clay made from dust. Star dust if you may, but transformed into earth. We are of the earth and we belong to her. Not the other way around.
Wind. The wind blows and its breezes bring us comfort. Sometimes it rages and it becomes a storm, bringing about destruction but also rebirth. The wind is power that is both gentle and destructive. But most important of all, wind is the air we breathe keeping us alive. The spirit that makes us human is but a breathe of the wind.
Water. Water flows and brings life and refreshment to everyone and everything. Water is live giving; but, in torrents and deluge, it becomes destructive. Water cleanses and purifies. It is also an agent of change and creation. We use water to cleanse and change everything around us. And, beyond the just symbolic, water also cleanses and changes our spirit.
Fire. Fire is power in the hands of man. Fire purifies like water, bring comfort life the wind and burns the earth to transform it. Like the other elements, it is necessary for life. And like the other elements, it can be destructive of life. Fire is power. Fire is intensity. Fire is commitment and determination
It is amazing how much there can be to learn just feeling earth with our fingers or blowing the dirt from our hands with puffs of air or washing our hands clean with water and then drying and warming them up with fire. It is amazing how much we can learn from children who have seen nothing of life yet. It is amazing how God talks to us in the ordinary things in life and teaches us life’s deep lessons through the innocence and simplicity of the child
An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’
Luke 9:46-50