| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: all works are dead, however good the form and name they bear. For
as no one does the work of this Commandment except he be firm and
fearless in the confidence of divine favor; so also he does no
work of any other Commandment without the same faith: thus every
one may easily by this Commandment test and weigh himself whether
he be a Christian and truly believe in Christ, and thus whether
he is doing good works or no. Now we see how the Almighty God has
not only set our Lord Jesus Christ before us that we should
believe in Him with such confidence, but also holds before us in
Him an example of this same confidence and of such good works,
to the end that we should believe in Him, follow Him and abide
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: "Well, that is true; but only think! you are depriving
yourself, as I can easily see, of a very great pleasure."
She pronounced these words with a smile, which was not
altogether without a tinge of irony.
Cornelius reflected for a moment; he evidently was
struggling against some vehement desire.
"No!" he cried at last, with the stoicism of a Roman of old,
"it would be a weakness, it would be a folly, it would be a
meanness! If I thus give up the only and last resource which
we possess to the uncertain chances of the bad passions of
anger and envy, I should never deserve to be forgiven. No,
 The Black Tulip |