New Year’s Day
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
—Luke 14:34–35
Author Margaret Feinberg writes of the collective impact of bringing forward our own “salty” flavor for the healing of the world:
As the salt of the earth, we are agents of human flourishing. Jesus is calling us to be fertilizer in his kingdom. We are the salt poured on that which is foul in order to foster fresh, new life. We are created to help others blossom and bud as they pursue the life God intends. Flourishing lives demonstrate evidence of the kingdom of God.…
Sometimes the places Christ sends you will feel manure-like—the last places, the last people, the last situations you’d ever want to engage. Like Jonah, you may be tempted to resist the hardship, the discomfort, the awkwardness and stinkiness, to stay in your comfort zone. Yet, it’s your salty fertilizer that brings salvation to a dysfunctional and dying world.
And don’t forget the kind of salt the disciples used was harvested with its surrounding minerals. Those trace elements gave the salt its uniqueness. In the same way, God uses you with all your naturally harvested “minerals”—your specific upbringing and personality and giftings and weaknesses and quirks. God leverages everything from your past wounds to your everyday work as [God] sprinkles you … throughout the world.
Feinberg offers encouragement when the suffering of the world feels overwhelming:
For me, it’s hard to know where to begin some days. I become overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of needs that flood my inbox and mailbox, my texts and social media feeds. In search of how to find a way forward, I once stumbled on wisdom tucked into some ancient Jewish writings known as the Talmud. There it says that if someone is suffering and in need, and you can take away 1/60 of their pain, then that is goodness, and the call to help is from God. This is a powerful expression of our being the salt—the preservers, the flavorers, the fertilizers—of the earth.
The fraction—1/60—is loaded with freedom. This liberates us from the pressured thinking that whispers, Everything depends on you. Your one little grain of salt can help with something someone else’s grain can’t. And when all the grains get mixed and sprinkled together, preserving and flavoring and helping others flourish occurs everywhere.
None of us are meant to preserve the whole earth, flavor the whole world, flourish the entire planet on our own. Yet you can begin today by simply asking God to bring to mind someone for whom you can ease 1/60 of their pain.
Reference:
Margaret Feinberg, Taste and See: Discovering God Among Butchers, Bakers, and Fresh Food Makers (Zondervan Books, 2019), 113–114.
Image credit and inspiration: Zach Lucero, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like this flame ignites another, contemplative action spreads quietly yet powerfully, igniting hearts to brighten the world with love.
Story from Our Community:
I have been experiencing Fr. Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations for many years and after I spend time carefully reading the meditation, I spend a few minutes with my eyes closed, just experiencing God in my heart and mind. These meditations are truly “vitamins” for my spirit and enable me to stay aware of God’s presence during the day. I am grateful to Fr. Richard and everyone at CAC for providing these daily doses.
—Mary W.
