Salt is Good

“Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” (Mr 9:50 AV)

It always puzzles me that salt and pepper have to be added when cooking.  I often wondered why the LORD simply didn’t make all food with enough salt and pepper that additional seasoning isn’t necessary.  There are some foods that are naturally salty and need no additional seasonings.  Soy sauce comes to mind.  As I watch cooking shows, there are a pinch of salt and pepper added to most recipes.  What further stirs my interest is that salt and pepper are the only two seasonings that are absolutely necessary.  There are others like ginger, Romano, or sesame that may or may not be used.  Rosemary, sage, or thyme are more that are not always on the list of must use seasonings for all occasions.  Only salt and pepper.  Fascinating.  Salt and pepper are almost always added.  Then I noticed that these seasonings are added to taste.  Not necessarily a set amount.  Unless one is baking, then salt and pepper are discretionary.  Salt adds life to all that it touches.  Too much, and it can kill yeast or sterilize meat.  However, the most common use of salt is to add flavor to all that it influences.

When we are around other people, whether we know it or not, we influence them.  No one is an island unto themselves.  There are some who are overbearing.  There are others who are the life of the party.  Still others can enter a room with a dark cloud hanging over their heads.  Our personality or spirit changes people.  We react to the demeanor of others while they react to ours.  It is only natural.  We all know types of personalities.  There is the Debby or Dougie Downer.  There is the Peppy Petunia or Peter.  There is the Angry Angela or Andy.  Then there is the Malicious Max, the Optimistic Olivia, or the Wild Wendy.  We have the Quiet Quincy, the Informative Isaac, and the Boisterous Bob.  There are the Noisy Nancys, the Sleep Sams, and the Cheap Charlies.  Personalities abound.  How they affect others is important.  In our Lord’s words, we see various applications.

First, the LORD tells us to have salt in ourselves.  That means the way we affect others is under our control.  Second, we see not pepper, but salt.  Salt affects food in livening it and drawing out the natural flavors of the food.  How we affect others should be to draw out their good qualities and helping them to be a blessing to others.  Third, since salt is added to taste, each person you meet will tolerate or be blessed by your salt to different degrees.  Circumstances may also dictate how much salt is added.  I’ll give you a great example.  I tend to de-escalate situations.  When something is intense, my reaction is to turn down the flame.  Humor is a good go-to tool in my toolbox.  But this does not always work.  A funeral or serious hospital stay is not the time for humor.  When someone is facing a surgery or procedure in which they are seriously concerned, even if I know it will be ok, I cannot go into the room treating it like no big deal.  How much salt we use, when we use it, and for what purposes we use it matters.

What which the Spirit is expressing is using my personality and gifts to benefit the lives of others.  The same goes for all.  Have salt within yourselves.  Have life and personality within yourselves.  Don’t be a log.  Rather, have a bit of well-defined traits.  Let them grow.  Then, use them to flavor the life of another.  As we touch each other’s lives, we should be better for it.  Each affecting another to the edifying of the Body.  Have salt in yourselves.  Then use it for the blessings it can and will be for others.