salt

Image and sloppy Photoshopping by me.
My Mom's got a collection of these things here.

I love this version of this popular verse; it's taken from The Message Bible.

I've lately had a renewed appreciation for salt on food.  For a few years I've skipped placing salt in my cooking, reckoning it was the wise thing to do after my Dad had a stroke and and my Mom had an open heart surgery.  Their doctors had recommended low-sodium diets for them, and I thought maybe I should start early and avoid salt as much as possible.  :p  Of course that was a drastic move, so last year I decided that a tiny bit of salt is fine, as long as I make it a habit to eat more fresh food.

Anyway, I felt like I rediscovered what salt does for food, and my oh my, salt is ah-mazing.  Lemme say that again: AH-MAZING.  Now I like to put a tiny bit of salt on most of the stuff I eat (not everything. I'd still like to watch the sodium).  ^_^  Trust me, salt even makes cornflakes taste better.  

In the Gospels, Jesus likens his followers to salt, calling us the salt of the earth.  In The Message version, it says You're here to bring out the God-flavors of the earth.  

I've read it over and over, but it stills strikes me as profound.  When Christ's followers do their thing, it makes the world more flavorful, more palatable (?), and a generally better place.

Making this my personal mantra,  I'm here to bring out the God-flavors of the earth.  I've got it in me to give the people around me a dash of what makes them closer to God.  I can touch lives, a tiny bit at a time.  

I suppose I need to "rediscover" myself as the salt of the earth to see just how ah-mazing things are being a child of God.  Not that life is dull.  I guess I'm just getting less starry-eyed now that I'm older (and boy, do I feel older!)  I've settled down considerably, and that's a good thing; but I want to realize something new and dynamic about my existence on earth, i.e., something I haven't experienced before.  Is it too much to hope I feel about myself the way I feel about salt on food?  (Dang.  Awkward sentence.  Anyway ...)

I can actually write a detailed Bible study on this scripture, complete with cross-referencing, suggested worship songs and homework, but I'm not doing that.  That kind of reflection has lots of merit, but I think I'll pass for now.  Stripping things down to the basics also has much benefit too.