To be Salt and Light

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I often struggle here in my blog, because I have been noticing lately how very Christian my dialogue is sometimes. Don't get me wrong with that statement - I absolutely identify as Christian, but I almost cannot bear the label because of the inane, ritualistic bigotry I have encountered from people with this label. If I, as someone very committed to her faith could feel like this, I dread to think the impact this has on people without a faith of their own, or any onlookers for that matter. For this reason, I struggle with coming across like a modern stereotypical Christian. My hope is to reach people who are not just Christians, but anyone. I really have very little to say in terms of denomination, or faith labels, but I am simply talking about life as I've thought about it. Because of my experience, and the authenticity that I find in (what little I know of) the personage of God and the direction I often find in the bible, I happen to come often from this angle. This statement is in no way meant to reduce the importance and sovereignty of God, my point is only that this blog is not, and never will be my attempt to convince you of anything. These are my thoughts, shared and as always I hope you will continue to share yours.

I guess that was a funny preface to a post that is based very squarely on the scripture following the Beatitudes, from the Sermon on the Mount. Read with me.

Salt and Light
 ¹³"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. ^14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 The Message Bible (emphasis added)

The part that struck me earlier this morning as I was listening to some music was this Salt and Light idea. Everyone who has been a Christian longer than five minutes has heard a message about this, "We are the salt of the earth! We are the light!" It feels a tad cliché, sometimes. This morning though, I revisited it. What does it mean 'To be salt, and light in the world?' To flavour, preserve, add taste to, illuminate, brighten and clarify the world? This morning I thought about this in another way. Perhaps I should have used a different version of the bible to quote the scripture, because I thought about it differently to the specifically Christian and evangelical perspective that this passage paints with its 'God-flavours' and 'God-colours' that prompt others to faith. I've decided to keep it, because I had a thought: what if the God-flavours and the God-colours are abundantly living me? Now, stay with me, I'm not suggesting that we are God, but I am thinking about God coming to give us life, and give it abundantly. In the scripture that tells us this, it speaks, kind of absolutely - "the thief" wants to steal, to kill and to destroy, and God wants to give life, abundantly, or to the fullest. If life were a scale, these are the weights.

Sometimes, you are enjoying great things - people, academic or professional success, popularity, financial security, etcetera. At other times, you are inflicted by trauma - disease, death, estrangement, poverty etcetera. A person's life is in a constant vacillation of these states, regardless of what he or she believes. The first passage about salt and light has always been related to me by teachers as a reflection of the Christian responsibility to bring God to the world; it says that the way we carry ourselves will speak to others, and encourage them to see the source of our flavour and our luminosity. I wanted to start with the preface that I chose, because I hoped we could lay the religious stuff aside for a second. I often want God without religion, but humans really do crave a certain amount of order, and this is where denominations and formal, organised religion becomes helpful, even if only for sorting purposes.

As I considered this idea again, I looked at the results of a person's flavour and luminosity. The passage says  if you lose your flavour, you've lost your usefulness and will be tossed in the garbage. It says if you don't shine, light up, if you are NOT luminous, then it is as if someone has put a bucket over you. I have been really energised by this scripture, and here's why: I think I've mentioned my struggles with meaninglessness, and there is a large enough Nihilism movement to assume that this is something that we humans may be prone to struggle with at one point or another during our lives. I am talking about any person, regardless of their belief system, having the experience of thinking nothing that happens is of any real consequence or that the patterns of life repeat themselves in an exhausting way. I've not met a person who hasn't complained of this at some point in their life. Why I found this scripture energising is because it speaks to this person, in my opinion. Everyone is going to feel like they have lost their usefulness, even if it is just in a particular area of their life and everybody has felt as though they've been covered by a bucket (whether by feeling they have no voice, they're being under-appreciated, etcetera).

My exuberance came from two sources:

The first: Everybody gets here, so don't beat yourself up about it. 
I sometimes feel guilty, knowing all that is good in my life, to ever feel dissatisfied with those areas that leave me feeling silenced, or somehow "hidden by a bucket." It is easy to wallow in a pit of self-pity, asking "Why me?" but the more appropriate question may be "Why the misery?" because if you took the time to look around, you'd notice that the world we live in is full of miseries, that EVERY individual suffers these events of trial and it is a guaranteed fact of our lives on earth.

The second: Fight!
This is why I read the bible; I have never read a better, more challenging self-help book. I've been trying to stay away from a position of religiousness because of all the ways I feel that religion has failed us. That being said, I read the bible because it is a source of motivation for me across my life. I believe in God because that  belief and relationship has given me life and combated my worst nihilistic inclinations. In this passage, I believe there is a commentary to any person on how to live a happier life. I thought about being God's creation, (and even if you didn't believe in God you could consider just being alive) having a purpose to flavour, preserve, add taste to, illuminate, brighten and clarify your world. I do believe in God, and I see God in so many things all around us. I see humans as being made in His image. The scripture talks about people tasting the God-flavours and seeing the God-colours when someone is being the Salt and the Light, but what if that was what we needed for ourselves as well? I think you have flavours and preservers, seasoning that brings out taste, luminosity, and clarity that ONLY you were equipped with; that the most refined version of you could gift the world massively with. I say you have to fight because refining is necessary - just like a person desirous of a well sculpted body, sometimes you have to work hard to shed layers of fat and waste before you can see a chiselled physique. You have to fight the unrefined self to get to the God-image in you.

How can I flavour my world? Am I somehow preserving something or someone that might have decayed or become spoiled without my input? Do I bring out the life (taste) in something or someone? Am I making anything brighter with my presence? Can I (I bet I can if I try!)? Do I clarify life (or do I complicate it)? I don't know how these questions strike you, but I feel like I just got a new toy. I'm going to ask myself these questions for the rest of my life. If the answer is ever no, that means that I can change my situation, that the worst hole I'm currently living in could be better if I find a way to just get this bucket off.