Salt of the Earth People

 You know, it's no accident that Jesus said we should observe the natural world in order to make sense of the spiritual: that the ant can teach us about industriousness or that the flowers of the field could show us how to depend on our Maker. Ask any worker of the land, and they'll often say that they've learned more about themselves and the Divine than most because they are closer to the stuff that makes Him real. Opening our eyes to the things He has built into our world to remind us of His existence opens us up to deeper mysteries of the heart and how God works best... in the unseen and the simple. That's why it's no surprise that a Portuguese salt farmer could suddenly make sense to me of a spiritual truth I've tried to understand all my life. 

See, this man is in his eighties and is sitting under the baking sun, talking about how his craft is a dying art - that an industry in his country that used to make its people rich has now all but dwindled away in favor of other career fields and modern ways of practice. He's old school. And proud of it. He goes on to describe how being a salt worker requires patience... the kind you'd exercise with your spouse, he adds. And the reason why you cannot be impatient in this field is because "every day is different. The salt behaves differently each day." What worked yesterday with the weather or conditions may not be the right approach today and one must learn these subtleties - and give the salt its time - if they are to be successful and have the harvest they desire. 

Suddenly, my mind is connecting something I've never quite seen this way before: I think of the Savior's words in Matthew 5:13 where He used salt as an example, in the Sermon on the Mount, of authentic faith. He said that it was useless unless it was fresh - that it could season if it had lost its flavor, leading one to believe that faith must be renewed and kept alive or else it is no good. Paul echoed the same in Colossians 4:6 when he noted that your behavior should always be filled with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you could discern how to appropriately interact with all people. When Jesus stated that we are the salt of the earth, intended to season, improve, and influence the world, He could've added what that farmer said in that this wouldn't be an overnight process. No worthwhile thing ever is. 

And perhaps that's why we don't fully grasp Jesus's usage of this analogy. In His day, salt was a metaphor for many things - covenants, distinctiveness, cultural practice - so the listeners would've gotten this. In our day, when most of us just know salt as something that sits on our table in a tiny shaker, the meaning is lost on us... and the fact that time and patience are required to apply the example in any part of our life. That farmer was onto to something: 

How can you be the "salt of the earth" if you are in a hurry? How can you discern the right thing to say, how much to season, unless you are moving slowly... deliberately... at a God-pace? 

When we were made in the image of One who does nothing without purpose and our highest calling is to reflect Who He is, then why would we ever think we could enhance the recipe of life without the same intentionality? How unreasonable of us to believe that any miracle of the soul could come about otherwise! After all, pretty much every agricultural analogy the Savior ever used demands time and patience. They all require a master who will wake up everyday and determine what the developing product needs. Yes, every day is different. Whether in a vineyard or a salt mine, the requirements are always a little bit varied. Conditions keep the worker on their toes, always doing what is necessary to produce an end result that they can be satisfied with. 

In this very moment, the Master is doing the same. With every trim of our vine, every taste of our fruit, every gaze at our pool where the salt is forming, He is testing us - trying us - to see whether our faith is becoming what He desires so that we can reflect well on His workmanship. So that we may "salt of the earth" people in the realest sense of the word. As He is patient with us, we also must be patient with ourselves and those around us. We're not a completed product yet, and this will take a minute to get right. We cannot hurry this process, or we'll miss a valuable step along the way. Thankfully, this journey isn't solely up to us, or we'd be definitely destined for the trash as un-flavorful. We have a Craftsman who knows far better than us what the end product must be and Who will stop at nothing in order to ensure that we turn into who we're meant to be. 

In order to be a "salt of the earth" person, you can't practice fakery. You can't rush. You can't manipulate a step. This is happening at a God-pace. And with each day, you turning into something you've never been... something new and different. All the seasons and the weather of your life are impacting who you're becoming and the unique flavor you are bringing to add to the world. Nothing of quality happens unless it is refined over and over again and such it is with your one beautiful, precious life. Give things time and go cultivate the ingredients of your story. Always remember that the Master is in no hurry, and neither are you. All is grace.