Good morning…
A few semesters back when we were able to freely gather together as learners in our living room, I remember reading these words aloud to our class.
“Soulful people temper our tantrums by their calm,” writes Richard Rohr, “lessen our urgency by their peace, exhibit a world of options and alternatives when all the conversation turns into dualistic bickering.”
For such a time as this, Rohr’s words come back to comfort us. “Soulful people are the necessary salt, yeast, and light needed to grow groups up (Matthew 5:13-16). Note that Jesus does not demand that we be the whole meal, the full loaf, or the illuminated city itself, but we are to be the quiet undertow and the overflow that makes all these things happen” (Falling Upward, Richard Rohr, 140).
“Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your ‘saltiness’ be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others.”
“Your lives light up the world. Let others see your light from a distance, for how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop? And who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place? Instead, it’s placed where everyone in the house can benefit from its light. So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16, TPT).
The footnote beneath these verses explains these concepts further. Verse 13 can also be translated: “Salt that has lost its flavor is foolish.” Both Greek and Aramaic use a word that can mean either “good for nothing” or “foolish.” If salt that has lost its flavor is foolish, then salt that keeps its flavor is wise. Rabbinical literature equates salt with wisdom. After speaking of salt, Jesus speaks of lighting a lamp. It was a common practice in the time of Jesus to put salt on the wick of a lamp to increase its brightness. The “salt” of wisdom will make our lights shine even brighter. (Eduard Schweizer, The Good News According to Matthew, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975. W. A. Elwell and P. W. Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, Tyndale reference library, 2001, Lamp, Lampstand. 797–8.)
Fascinating, huh? May the “salt” of God’s wisdom make our lights shine even brighter today, casting a quiet undertow and overglow upon each and every person nearby.
…Sue…
