AGNES MARTINKO Earth elements symbolize faith's love and harmony

Not being a surfer, I was unaware that there is an international organization of Christian Surfers with 28 chapters in the United States. The article in the Aug. 9 edition of The Vindicator states that 1,071 new members in 2002 accepted Christ for the first time, and nearly 400 returned to their faith as a result of the organization's efforts.
In the same edition of the paper, Angela Trafford recommends that, "If you are tired of the company of people who lie and manipulate, people who seek to destroy instead of grow and build, those who foster discord in the face of harmony, those who foster hatred and deception in the place of love," you should go for a swim. She says, "You can just float and let the tide take you, letting go to the water as if it were the flow of God's will ..."
Symbolic teachings
It is not unusual that people associate an awareness of God with experience of water. The Bible contains many references to events associated with water. Even the entry to the Christian faith is through the baptism of water. But, the other elements of air, earth and fire are also used metaphorically and symbolically in faith teachings.
In air, we have the breath of life. Up through the atmospheric air is how Christ ascended to join his father in spirit whose presence is felt but never seen. Christina Rosetti describes this so well in her short poem: "Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I. But, when the trees bow down their heads, we know the wind is passing by."
A safe haven from air and water is the earth. Christ said, "Upon this rock, I shall build my church." It is mother earth. It nourishes us and clothes us. The trees and plants reach down into its core for the nourishment to rise toward the sky and purify the air. It is the clay from which Adam and Eve were formed.
It is fire, the remaining element, that provides the energy to make it all happen. In Genesis, God says, "Let there be light." For primordial people, it was the power of the sun that guided their lives. For a Christian, it is God's passionate love for us as exemplified though the son, who is our guiding light.
Power of love
An Ohio artist, Carol Adams, currently has a multidimensional total-room light installation at the Butler Institute of American Art. The changing illuminations depict air, water, earth and fire through a myriad of colorful designs. The complete cycle takes about 22 minutes and then repeats itself.
The Jesuit paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, thought that once people learned how to subdue the forces of the earth, we would rediscover the power of love. It's obvious that we haven't reached that point yet. It was also de Chardin's theory that when situations seemed insurmountable, there was often a climactic breakthrough to sustain the species.
Time element
Some people feel that time had come during the exploration of space. Suddenly, the photograph of that blue marble called planet Earth orbiting in space became an icon of interdependency. This is the place where we all live. What one person does can affect all of us. Is this awareness sufficient to enable us to learn to live together in love? Only time will tell.
There are some who say that time is actually the next frontier. It was Einstein's theories that moved us from fixed linear clock time to suppositions about relative time. Will we come to understand how we move from finite time at death to time eternal?
Perhaps the elements of faith are not so elemental after all.
XAgnes Martinko has a doctorate in psychology and taught a course on death and dying at Youngstown State University.