When I was at school studying chemistry, we learnt about the Periodic Table of elements and noble (or inert) gases. Noble gases are those which don’t really react very much with other elements; gases such as helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon are stable, largely because their outermost electron shell is complete and therefore there is no ‘need’ for them to form compounds with other elements in order to have a complete outer shell of electrons. To a fourteen year old student, noble gases seemed rather boring; chemistry was far more exciting when we did experiments with other elements which did react, sometimes quite dramatically!
Anthropomorphism (attributing human characteristics and purposes to inanimate objects, animals, plants, or other natural phenomena) was how my non-scientific mind coped with the concept of elements and compounds. Thus, sodium and chlorine, the elements which combine to form sodium chloride (salt), were described as lovers (see here for a video about the ‘element dating agency’) longing for wholeness and completeness. I also readily related to elements having human emotions: impulsiveness, volatility, longing being concepts I understood far more readily than valency and reactivity… (By now, the scientists among you will be shaking their heads in frustration, but bear with me…!)
Personality varies enormously among people. Some people are hot-headed, volatile, capable of exploding at the least little thing (the hydrogen of the human world.) Some are more even-tempered but still capable of reacting under certain conditions (the iron of the human world.) Some are even more stable, apparently inert, like the Group 18 gases!
The concept of wholeness, however, could be said to have a spiritual application, as well as aiding non-scientists like me to grasp reactivity and why certain elements form compounds. Augustine spoke of the restlessness in the human heart which will only find completeness in God:
As a teenager, I was not interested in the ‘boring’ noble gases. However, these are not as ‘useless’ as I imagined them to be when I was at school; because of their non-reactive properties, they are often useful to prevent undesirable chemical reactions from taking place (for example, food is packed in inert gas to remove oxgyen gas and thus prevent bacteria from growing; historical documents can also be stored under an inert gas to avoid degradation, and these gases are often used in the chemical industry to minimise fire hazards.) Similarly, people who are stable in personality are often accused of being boring, but all of us are called to find our true identity in Christ alone (it’s in Him that we find out who we are and what we are living for, according to Eph 1:11.) God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ (Col 1:19) and in Him, all things hold together (Col 1:17). In the words of a hymn, ‘we are complete in Him’ (see Col 2:10). We no longer have to be restless, yearning for fulfilment through activities or human relationships or work. Our fulfilment comes from God; we have found our soul-mate and can therefore act as salt and light in our decaying world (see Matt 5:13-16), preserving and demonstrating a life that is supernatural.
Noble gases were called ‘noble’ because their unreactivity was seen as majestic and something worthy. Far from being seen as boring, uninteresting and useless, they remind us that at times, it’s better not to react when provoked! Stability of character and consistency are not weaknesses, but strengths. Let’s allow the character of God to be formed within us so that we hear the Word, act on it and produce a good crop (Matt 13:1-23.)