Open Reflections

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The big picture

Earth, wind, fire, water…are basic symbols which help us in making sense of our world.

Some speak of the “theology of land” i.e. land that holds a divine promise; taken literally that may lead to very serious conflicts among different peoples in a given region.

The narrative of the Creation and the Fall of the first couple (Adam and Eve) highlight a few important realities, namely, that man is in the image of God, for God “breathed of His Spirit into Adam’s nostrils and Adam (fathomed from clay) become a living being”, that the earth belongs to all people and that man is responsible for tending the land and looking after the earth.

The symbol of the wind is the symbol of life, of breath, of the invisible spiritual reality in man.

Saint Paul warns of the “spirits of the air” which fight against the faithful (Eph. 3, 10); nowadays we could also say we should be aware of the various ideologies which like an ephemeral whirlwind cause turbulence and upset. The experience of the Church, however, teaches us this: the Holy Spirit always brings order and harmony. On the day of Pentecost He came “like the wind and like tongues of fire” and gave birth to the Church.

The wind , symbol of the Spirit, is movement, life, action…the fire is light, warmth, energy and purification. Like the metal in the furnace gets rid of all the impurities which clang to it rendering it inferior and useless, so is the man who is caught into the movement of the Living God: he gets purged, clean and ready to fulfil his very individual purpose for his own good and that of the others.

The water is the symbol of eternity, of birth and of renewal, of infinity but also of risk and danger and even of death.

All symbols are ambiguous, that is they may denote one think and its very opposite. This is because our experience of our world is in a continuous flux and too many things happen -as we perceive them- good and bad. On the other hand symbols are embedded in the way we think and communicate; every letter of the alphabet, every digit, every word are but symbols which help us to grasp our reality.

Our Lord often spoke in parables, that is He used images of every day life in order to help his listeners to understand a deeper reality. These images, these parables show us the “big picture” of which we are an integral part.

The Good News is that our Christian Faith is founded not on symbols, but on historical facts; and the most amazing of them all is the Incarnation of the Son of God! God became man so that He will be close to us and speak to us in a language we can understand. He shared our nature, our pains and our joys and took upon Himself our sins and failures in order to make us a new Risen People. Everything Christ did He did it for each one of us, in our name and for our sake.

At an age which questions the Transcendent, God, the wholly Other, we Christians are called to give witness to the divine Love; the love that brought about the Incarnation, the love that is out poured in every word and action of Jesus, the love that let Him accept to be sacrificed for us all, the love which led to the Resurrection, the love that founded the Church and guides Her through the Holy Father and the Magisterium “to all truth”.

…for “God is love” (1 John, 4:7)

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