Finding the spirit in the garden

In a story from the Book of Genesis, Adam (whose name means clay), is sculpted out of the soil of the earth and awoken with the breath of life. This story speaks to our commonality with the entire material world. We are made of the earth. The molecules that make up our bodies originate in the earth. Plants draw them up from the soil. We make bread with those plants. And in the course of a meal we take in these same molecules to form our own bodies.

But, like all of us Adam has two parts. His clay body is sculpted from the earth. But he also has an invisible self: thoughts, emotions, spirit, and soul—the breath of God. And what of the other beings, the plants and animals and the earth itself? I took our sixth graders back to the garden and asked them to look for the spirit in all things. They took these photographs.

—Mirza Khan, religion teacher