Calenorn:
Somewhere in one of her books Madeleine L'Engle laments the loss of some of the old language used in the Episcopal Church. That Church updated its prayerbook in 1979 (I think), replacing one in use since 1928. One passage that L'Engle loved referred to the elements of the eucharist as "creatures of bread and wine." The word 'creatures' used in its original sense, meaning things created. But it did evoke the image that such 'creatures' had inherent life and worth, pointing toward a reverence that seems faded in the new language. There are similar referrences in the Psalms about the rocks crying out, or the trees clapping their hands. But the creatures of bread and wine are special, because they are not simple aspects of nature, but crafted by people from nature, and thus symbols of humanity's role as co-creator with God.