Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
After this Sunday’s gospel passage, and as the winter of 2014 progresses, I am not thinking about the salt that seasons food, but rather the salt that melts the ice. You know, the kind that is supposed to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.Basically what’s been happening this winter is it has been so cold, the salt is not working well — what there is of it, anyway. There is apparently a salt shortage, according to national news outlets.
Perhaps God is trying to tell us something with this “polar vortex” and record breaking snowfall. The cold snap has been so pervasive and widespread, it’s certainly possible.
If He is, then what are we doing about it? Are we shining enough of our light to melt the ice? Or, to quote Shakespeare, have we given up hope in this winter of our discontent?
I know I have been guilty of getting very close…every time I watch the TV news and listen to the state of our country and our world, my mood gets a little fouler and my attitude closer to despair.
I think Jesus is reminding me not to go there.
Take some time to pray about what this winter is saying to you. Perhaps it might help you, as it helps me, to meditate on this beautiful song, Every Season, by Nicole Nordeman.
And remember it’s always darkest before the dawn. Maybe it’s also snowiest before the spring.
Stay salty, my friends.
