| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: into the matter, analytically and with profound scrutiny. He had
brought all the resources of his mind to bear upon it during his
walk, and he had come back to apply some new combination.
He sat in his armchair, and pen in hand he began what looked very
much like algebraic formula: I followed with my eyes his trembling
hands, I took count of every movement. Might not some unhoped-for
result come of it? I trembled, too, very unnecessarily, since the
true key was in my hands, and no other would open the secret.
For three long hours my uncle worked on without a word, without
lifting his head; rubbing out, beginning again, then rubbing out
again, and so on a hundred times.
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: much. The worth of our Christian liberty cannot be exaggerated.
Our conscience must he trained to fall back on the freedom purchased for
us by Christ. Though the fears of the Law, the terrors of sin, the horror of
death assail us occasionally, we know that these feelings shall not endure,
because the prophet quotes God as saying: "In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment: but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy
on thee." (Isa. 54:8.)
We shall appreciate this liberty all the more when we bear in mind that it
was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who purchased it with His own blood.
Hence, Christ's liberty is given us not by the Law, or for our own
righteousness, but freely for Christ's sake. In the eighth chapter of the
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: came, for what with the shock and exposure, she had already gone
through enough to kill almost any woman. And as I gazed down at
her, so small and delicate and helpless, there was born slowly
within my breast a new emotion. It had never been there before;
now it will never cease to be there. It made me almost frantic
in my desire to find some way to keep warm and cooling lifeblood
in her veins. I was cold myself, though I had almost forgotten
it until Nobbler moved and I felt a new sensation of cold along
my leg against which he had lain, and suddenly realized that in
that one spot I had been warm. Like a great light came the
understanding of a means to warm the girl. Immediately I knelt
The Land that Time Forgot |
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 Whirligigs by O. Henry: denunciations in tones sweet, but of too great carrying
power for a Broadway restaurant.
Finally they exhausted her patience both as a woman
and an artist. She sprang up like a panther, managed
to smash half a dozen plates and glasses with one royal
sweep of her arm, and defied her critics. They rose and
wrangled more loudly. The comedian sighed and looked
a trifle sadder and disinterested. The manager came
tripping and suggested peace. He was told to go to the
popular synonym for war so promptly that the affair
might have happened at The Hague.
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