Fivefold

This is all about what today has meant to me. So here I sit, reading and writing at my philosopher's chair in the park, munching cookies and eating cupcakes, imbibing coffee and assimilating chocolate. For I have come to realise that there is a specific mode of response to every thing in its own place and quality.

There has always been the mystery of five. The ancients called the fifth element the quintessence – the fifth element of reality after air, earth, fire and water. There are simple correspondences between that which is and that which ought to be, according to the ancients, who saw:

• air as that which is dry and cold, the element of intellect and cognition, a sword in the hand;
• earth as that which is moist and warm, the element of fecundity and negotiation, a shield for the body;
• fire as that which is dry and warm, the element of deeds and action, a club in the fist; and
• water as that which is moist and cold, the element of feelings and caprice, a helm for the head and a cup for the lips.

And so, what does it all mean? I think it means that for everything we encounter, there is a mode of acceptance and celebration that is more appropriate than most. We use many words interchangeably, but this should not be so.

My dear students, let me say this:

I thank you for your deeds, for thanksgiving is an act of the body which cannot be entirely contained in the heart or mind or spirit. I am grateful for your feelings, for at the heart of gratitude is grace unearned, accepted and enjoyed. I recognize your thoughts, for recognition is an act of the considering will, whether in focus or not. I appreciate your gifts, for appreciation is an act of assigning value, whether tangible or intangible. And my being, all of it, is glad, is joyful, is replenished and renewed by you – who you are and why you are and how you are.