NaCl: THE SALINE SOLUTION (From the Archive)
A Dramatic Moment from TOTAL IMPACT Vol. 2 Issue 9 originally published in September 1994
I’ve been using salty language lately. Not that I’ve been profane. I’ve simply been trying to season my tongue with verbiage that is more conducive to Christ-likeness. Any why shouldn’t that be described as salty? The gospel of Matthew tells us plainly that we are the Mrs. Dash of the earth, and yet so many of us live on the atoll of blah. We are no spicier than the Home for the Elderly’s taco night.
Perhaps we have forgotten that we are the Great Shakers. Please refrain from the lambada until my definition has been realized. In order to spew salt upon this great land, we must first be salt shakers. This, of course, was always our Creator’s intention. He gave us the ability to both give a pinch and outpour, depending on our willingness. So, it’s our job to pour.
But wait! Before you go seasoning, make certain that those white granules are what you think they are. For nothing would be a greater waste or shame than to ruin that which you are affecting by sugar or sand. Just seeing that you are full of white stuff doesn’t make it salt, and wherein Christianity sometimes IS responsibility, perhaps a little test is in order.
For instance, if I am really exuding saline, then the after-effects are going to prove it. If salt makes wonderful culinary delights truly taste more extraordinary, then I can assume that it will make what is good better and brighter. If it is true that salt taken to ice causes the solid to liquefy, then I can assume that my outpouring will melt that which is frigid. And if my season does what it always does to an open wound, I can see that what comes out of my shaker will heal, even if sometimes it will first hurt.
The real proof in the pudding, however, comes not only from the after-effects, but from the outpouring itself.
I don’t understand why it takes me so much work to lose weight. All I know is that if I look at the fat content of an item, I put on pounds. If I use extra-body shampoo, I exit the shower twice as large. The only way to kick that weight is to really work at it. If I don’t, my body grows stagnant. So, as I work, I sweat — and I realize that as I sweat, it is the only way I become salty.
Certainly, I could rub some salt off of someone else, but the only way that kind of seasoning is going to come out of my own life is to sweat. I don’t know about you, but the only times I sweat are when I work hard - or get near the Son — and I sweat most when I do both.
So, we realize that our faith is not based on works, and in the meantime refuse to work out our faith. It certainly seems that would have been the most obvious way to not only keep ourselves salty, but to release a little spice as well. So, I for one make a pact to seek out the cold and the hurt, as well as the tasty. I will be responsible to make sure that I am sweating enough so that they can sense the seasoning and — in return, fill their shaker to affect those that I could never reach.
Next: “singlesomething” — A Dramatic Moment from TOTAL IMPACT Vol. 2 Issue 10 originally published in October 1994