Salt

I was reading at dinner tonight from the book Looking for God by Nancy Ortberg. In the chapter I was reading, she was talking about being the salt of the earth. (Sidenote -- for a great devotional about being "salty," check this out).

She asks us to consider a memorable meal -- great food, great company, great conversation, great memories. Think about the food. What if, as we are eating, we decide that the food lacks salt. We would pick up the salt shaker, add salt, and then go on eating. We might not even remember doing it.

She says being the salt of the earth is kind of like that. It's never about the salt -- it's about the taste it adds. Being salty might mean small things -- those small ways in which we spread the word of God. They might seem unimportant to us, but to those who see God -- who experience life flavored by God because of what we do -- the "small things" are huge.

I spoke with someone tonight at Send Off for an Emmaus walk. Her husband is a pilgrim on this walk. She told me that she has been trying to get him to go on a walk for three years, and he finally, at almost the last moment, said he would. I know, because I am a member of the Emmaus Board, that we thought about cancelling the walk due to a low number of pilgrims. We decided that if God had called six, he might be calling more. Even if six were the only ones who attended, the walk was worth it for them, and the changes that God would make in their faith journey through the walk.

The walk ended up with 10 pilgrims. One of those was this woman's husband, and it took her 3 years to get him to go. If we had cancelled the walk, would he have gone next spring? Who knows.

Having the mustard seed faith to believe that God wanted this walk to go forward was being salty. It was absolutely right to continue with this walk. It only took a little faith; it wasn't a huge decision, but it will make a difference for who knows how many people.

Salty decisions are a blessing from God.