Salt of the Earth

I didn`t think the stairs were ever going to stop.  In short sets of ten and spiraling down anticlockwise, the steps had me dizzy.  By the time we reached the bottom, at least the first level of the depths, my legs had turned to jelly.

I was in Poland visiting my friends Arek and Sara and the one thing I really wanted to see were the Wieliczka Salt Mines just outside of Krakow.  These mines have been operating since the 13th century and are famous for the hand carved sculptures and chapels mad by the unschooled miners themselves.  As a visitor, I found myself on the long list of guests including many noted historical figures such as Copernicus who also ventured through the mines in their respective times.  The timber used in constructing the mines has been well preserved by the salt and despite its fresh appearance, dates back just as far.

The journey took us as far as 135 metres underground, or under-salt I should say.  Everything was salt, the floors, the walls, the ceilings... The miners had cut groves in the ground so as it became smoothly polished with wear, it would look like marble tiles.  Most of the salt was dark and grey.  Veins of white "cauliflower" salt bulged out of otherwise smooth surfaces.  This was the salt we could taste.  Just the small amount I picked from the wall shocked me as to just how salty salt can be.  As we walked along, there were chunks that looked like ice frozen in the grey walls.  This was salt in its purest and saltiest form, transparent and beautiful.  This was the salt they used to make the beautiful chandeliers in the cathedral.

That night, after a lovely traditional Polish dinner in Krakow, I thought it only appropriate to reflect on Christ`s words in Matthew 5:13.  The phrase "salt of the earth" has become so commonplace as it represents the good of the common man.  We all have heard the sermons preaching on the value of salt in ancient days, its preservative nature, and its role as an important mineral in our own bodies.  For me, I suppose I just thought it beautiful to be in the dark of the earth and see something as pure and clean as that saltiest of salts, crystal.  I began thinking about how our own transparency in life, in both our trials and our triumphs reveals the testimony of Christ in us.  I thought about how salt produces a thirst that only water can quench.  Then I thought about the underground lake whose waters were so supersaturated with salt that it produced even more crystals floating through it and snow white "cauliflowers" growing along its edges.  And isn`t this the call Christ was giving all along...
My salt crystal cross that I purchased to remind me of the experience came out of a freezing cold room today for the picture.  The elements had caused condensation and some of its saltiness was dripping away.  I thought of the verse and recognized how if I let it be so corrupted, it would no longer be wearable; it would lose its usefulness and end up in the bin.  God help us to live as the salt of the earth - repentant and transparent, effective in our call to "go and make disciples of all men." (Matt 28)

Sweat and Honey

The gym I go to works on a circuit. Two and a half cycles on the circuit is one complete workout. This is the first time in my life that I have been a gym member, and I`m not particularly athletic so it is definitely a new challenge for me. Usually I get just over two-thirds of the way through the circuit when my body starts to really rebel, but seeing the end just a few machines away makes it easier to push through and finish. The toughest days however are the days when I feel the fatigue just halfway into the circuit. This was how I felt on Thursday. I was panting a smile to the person facing me who was also struggling as my muscles began to liquify, perhaps even curdling a bit. I still had so much to go. Every day is a fight of willpower, but this day was worse. Why in the midst of this then, would the Bible come into mind?

My first thought was, "How cliché!" I`ve heard devotionals talk about how reading the Word is a discipline much like going to the gym, but you just do it and get on with it. In some ways, they make the perseverence sound otherworldly and sterile. Truth is I do struggle with my daily devotionals. Some days it is easier to take the time with God and His Word, and other days it is a fight, complete with spiritual cramps and sweat! As I was pondering this, I realized I only had a few machines left and was almost to the end of the workout. I never give up in the middle of the workout because I know it is a small sacrifice and is never more than I can truly handle. I also go quite regularly as it is only by other`s gifts that I am able to have joined. To give up midway or to skip weeks at a time would waste the resources with which I have been entrusted.

In Biblical times, rabbis would introduce the Torah to young students by putting a drop of honey, the sweetest substance known in Biblical times, on their tongues. The rabbi would tell them that this sweetness represented the Law. I once attended the Bar Mitzvah of a student whose father was a Jewish immigrant from Iran. He told a similar story from his own childhood just a few decades ago. He was from a very poor region, but on the first day of Hebrew school the rabbi took the costly jar of honey that he had saved for since the previous year and told the children to hold out their slate boards. He then poured the honey in such extravagance over all the children`s slates until they were covered completely and the honey was spent. The children were shocked at such a gesture, but they licked their slates until they were full. The rabbi then simply said that such was the Word of God.

What precious resource we have been given in the Word of God, what incredible wealth has been entrusted to us. As I left the gym, drenched in sweat, but pleased with the result, I asked God to give me the grace to persevere in my devotional life. I do not want to take for granted the generous gift of the Word He has given me.