| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: remember that everything was wrong; that he was determined to go astray, and
not in the least enjoying the process. Why, he wondered, should he be in
rebellion? What was it all about? "Why not be sensible; stop all this idiotic
running around, and enjoy himself with his family, his business, the fellows
at the club?" What was he getting out of rebellion? Misery and shame--the
shame of being treated as an offensive small boy by a ragamuffin like Ida
Putiak! And yet--Always he came back to "And yet." Whatever the misery, he
could not regain contentment with a world which, once doubted, became absurd.
Only, he assured himself, he was "through with this chasing after girls."
By noontime he was not so sure even of that. If in Miss McGoun, Louetta
Swanson, and Ida he had failed to find the lady kind and lovely, it did not
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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: accompanied by lightning, by storms, by the sound of trumpets, to tear to
pieces that monster called self-righteousness. As long as a person thinks
he is right he is going to be incomprehensibly proud and presumptuous.
He is going to hate God, despise His grace and mercy, and ignore the
promises in Christ. The Gospel of the free forgiveness of sins through
Christ will never appeal to the self-righteous.
This monster of self-righteousness, this stiff-necked beast, needs a big axe.
And that is what the Law is, a big axe. Accordingly, the proper use and
function of the Law is to threaten until the conscience is scared stiff.
The awful spectacle at Mount Sinai portrayed the proper use of the Law. When
the children of Israel came out of Egypt a feeling of singular holiness
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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 Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: negative sum-total of renouncements looms very large in a man's
imagination. Pons, for instance, after enduring the insolently
patronizing looks of some bourgeois, incased in buckram of stupidity,
sipped his glass of port or finished his quail with breadcrumbs, and
relished something of the savor of revenge, besides. "It is not too
dear at the price!" he said to himself.
After all, in the eyes of the moralist, there were extenuating
circumstances in Pons' case. Man only lives, in fact, by some personal
satisfaction. The passionless, perfectly righteous man is not human;
he is a monster, an angel wanting wings. The angel of Christian
mythology has nothing but a head. On earth, the righteous person is
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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 Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: "Good Lord!" groaned Jimmy, as if his friend had been suddenly
struck down in the flower of his youth.
"That's why you simply must come with me to the hop," continued
Alfred. "I want you to take care of her friend Aggie, and leave
me alone with Zoie as much as possible."
"Zoie!" sniffed Jimmy. The name to him was as flippant as its
owner.
"True, strong name," commented Alfred. "So simple, so direct, so
like her. I'll have to leave you now," he said, rising. "I must
send her some flowers for the dance." He turned at the door.
Suppose I add a few from you for Aggie."
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