Reflections & science of salt as sacred & essential element and as an image for spiritual practice: themes from Taste & See series.
Music about Salt of the Earth:
- Salt of the Earth by The Rolling Stones with video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOiLH-2hTPQ
- Salt and Light (Gospel song) by Rebekah Wolf video with words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPq8NUR5kJ0
- Salt and Light (Gospel song) by Lauren Daigle video with words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFyavoFYOxg
Questions to consider:
- Who in your life do you consider to be ‘salt of the earth’? What lessons does this person have to offer?
- Why is salt paired with light as an essential and sacred element?
- Thoughts posed by Jan Richardson:
- So how savory are you these days?
- How is light finding its way into you and through you?
- Is there anything—or anyone—that is working against this, that is tipping a bushel over your shining?
- Might there be some part of you that needs revealing, needs to unhide itself … ?
- Using
the imagery of salt, what attributes of this element do you recognize
in yourself or wish to cultivate as an additional spiritual gift:
- an agent who preserves and protects
- one who surprises by heightening contrast and enhancing different perspectives and talents
- a catalyst of change
- an element promoting consistency of outcomes
- a strengthening and stabilizing force
- one who enables transmission of energy or messages and communication
- one who is essential to life
- something else entirely?
Love Like Salt — Lisel Mueller
It lies in our hands in crystals too intricate to decipher
It goes into the skillet without being given a second thought
It spills on the floor so fine we step all over it
We carry a pinch behind each eyeball
It breaks out on our foreheads
We store it inside our bodies in secret wineskins
At supper, we pass it around the table
talking of holidays and the sea.
Salt of the Earth (lyrics excerpt) — Rolling Stones
Let’s drink to the hard working people
Let’s drink to the lowly of birth …
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth …
Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth …
Take It With a Grain of Salt
(excerpt from article by Bloomsbury International)
Idiom … In 77AD Pliny the Elder (a natural philosopher under The Roman
Empire) translated an ancient cure to poison, in which he wrote “to be
taken fasting, plus a grain of salt”. This suggested that bad effects
could be counteracted by a grain of salt. The more metaphorical meaning –
that incorrect information might be made easier to accept by ‘taking it with a grain of salt’ –
did not become widely used until much later, in the 17th Century. For
example, in 1647 John Trapp said of his own writing “This is to be taken
with a grain of salt”. More recently, the idiom has been modified from a grain of salt to a pinch of salt, and we can now use either grain or pinch in this saying.
Thoughts On Salt
Wonder is the salt of the earth. — M. C. Escher
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. — Nelson Mandela
Whoever you are, whatever you are, start with that, whether salt of the earth or only white sugar. — Alice Walker
The percentage of salt in our bodies is very close to that of the ocean, so just how salty does that make us? — Len Fisher
In Rome… the soldier’s pay was originally salt and the word salary derives from it. — Pliny the Elder
I do not at all understand the mystery of grace–only that it meets us
where we are but does not leave us where it found us. It can be received
gladly or grudgingly, in big gulps or in tiny tastes, like a deer at
the salt. ― Anne Lamott
A black person grows up in this country – and in many places – knowing that racism will be as familiar as salt to the tongue. Also, it can be as dangerous as too much salt. I think that you must struggle for betterment for yourself and for everyone. — Maya Angelou
Seas were meant to be sailed by those with salt in their veins, and love in their heart. ― Anthony T. Hincks
Any conviction worth its salt has chosen to cohabit with a piece of mystery. All of our traditions insist on a reverence for what we do not know now and cannot tie up with explanation in this lifetime. This is an invitation to bring the particularities and passions of our identities into common life, while honoring the essential mystery and dignity of the other … — Krista Tippett
In ancient Rome, it was salt and not money that was used for commerce or trading. The soldiers who worked for the Roman empire got a handful of salt in return as their payment each day. This is where the common saying of “being worth one’s salt” comes from. Soldiers who did a good job were worth the salt they earned. — Roshni
For it is not needful, to use a common proverb, that one should drink up the ocean who wishes to learn that its water is salt. ― Irenaeus of Lyons
… you just add a pinch. Salt brings out all the flavors … It’s weird, isn’t it? How something so opposite of sweet can make things taste even better? ― Cecilia Galante
Commentary on
Being Salt of the Earth
Jesus’ words … are meant to wake us, to remind us of what we carry in our bones: the living presence of the God who bids us be salt in this world in all our savory particularity; to be light in the way that only we can blaze. — Jan Richardson
We perhaps should not miss the fact that Jesus does not say “here are the conditions you must meet to be the salt of the Earth.” He does not say here are the standards of wholeness you must fulfill in order to be light for the world. He looks out into the crowd of people in pain, people who have been broken open – those cracks that let in and let out the Light, who have the salt of sweat and tears on their broken bodies, and says you ARE salt. You. You are light. You have that of God within you the God whose light scatters the darkness. Your imperfect and beautiful bodies are made of chemicals with holiness shining in it…you are made of dust and the very breath of God. In other words, you are a broken jerk and Jesus trusts you. Don’t wait until you feel as though you have met the conditions of being holy. Trust that Jesus knows what he is doing. And that you already are salt and light and love and grace. Don’t try and be it. Know that you already are. And then, for the love of God, take that seriously. The world needs it. — Nadia Bolz-Weber
Jesus said the church should be the salt of the earth, and we need to remember the salt is not the food. He said we should be the leaven in the bread, and we are not the whole bread. The church, along the way, started thinking it was the whole bread, the whole food, but we’re just the salt and leaven. When the church operates as a small community of rooted and committed believers, then it makes a difference. From its minority position of integrity and truth, it is able to preach the Gospel. And that leaven is enough to “save” the world from self-destruction. — Richard Rohr
Salt is also an important image in the Buddhist canon, and this Christian teaching [salt of the earth] is equivalent to the Buddha’s teaching about sangha. The Buddha said that the water in the four oceans has only one taste, the taste of salt, just as his teaching has only one taste, the taste of liberation. Therefore the elements of sangha (community of practice) are the taste of life, the taste of liberation, and we have to practice in order to become the salt. — Thich Nhat Hanh
Jesus himself, as the gospel story goes on to its dramatic conclusion, lives out the same message of the Sermon on the Mount: he is the light of the world, he is the salt of the earth, he loves his enemies and gives his life for them, he is lifted up on a hill so that the world can see. — N. T. Wright
But these few are the salt of the earth; without them, human life would become a stagnant pool. Not only is it they who introduce good things which did not before exist, it is they who keep the life in those which already existed. — John Stuart Mill
Let yourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit to be the leaven of new life, salt of the earth and light of the world. — Pope Benedict XVI
SCIENCE of SALT
Salt as a Food Preservative (link to full article by Ingrid Koo)
- Salt dries food. Salt draws water out of food and dehydrates it. All living things require water and cannot grow in the absence of water, including the bacteria which can cause food poisoning. Salt is used to preserve beef jerky by keeping it dry, and it prevents butter from spoiling by drawing water out, leaving just the fat …
- Salt kills microbes. High salt is toxic to most (not all) microbes because of the effect of osmolarity, or water pressure. Water diffuses between cells in the environment so that the concentration of solutes (such as salt) is the same on both sides of the cell. In very high salt solutions, many microbes will rupture due to the difference in pressure between the outside and inside of the organism. High salt can also be toxic to internal processes of microbes, affecting DNA and enzymes …
Salt as Seasoning & Flavor (link to full article)
- Salt is one of the most widely used and oldest forms of food seasoning …
- Saltiness is one of the five basic human tastes in addition to sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami (a savory, meaty taste, such as that of cooked mushrooms, cheese, or soy sauce).
- As salt dissolves in a solution or on food, it breaks into its component ions: sodium and chloride (Na+ and Cl–, respectively). The salty flavor primarily comes from the sodium ions.
Salt in our Bodies — Len Fisher
- The human body contains many salts … sodium chloride … common table salt … is the major one, making up around 0.4 per cent of the body’s weight at a concentration pretty well equivalent to that in seawater. So a 50kg person would contain around 200g of sodium chloride – around 40 teaspoons.
Salt & the Function of Our Cells (link to full article)
- Sodium is an essential nutrient but is something that the body cannot produce itself. It plays a vital role in the regulation of many bodily functions and is contained in body fluids that transport oxygen and nutrients. It is also essential in maintaining the body’s overall fluid balance …
- An adult human body contains about 250g of salt and any excess is naturally excreted by the body.
- Sodium enables the transmission of nerve impulses around the body. It is an electrolyte, like Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium; it regulates the electrical charges moving in and out of the cells in the body. It controls your taste, smell and tactile processes. The presence of Sodium ions is essential for the contraction of muscles, including that largest and most important muscle, the heart. It is fundamental to the operation of signals to and from the brain. Without sufficient sodium your senses would be dulled and your nerves would not function …
Baking Science & Salt (Link to full article.)
- Flavor … Salt isn’t necessarily added to baked goods to make them taste salty, but to enhance all of the other flavors in the recipe.
- Consistent finished results. … adding salt separately to baked goods can help ensure consistent results.
- Control the fermentation rate of yeast … Salt is hygroscopic, which means it attracts water … mixed into a bread or pastry dough that contains yeast, the salt absorbs some of the moisture from the yeast, which in essence slows down its fermentation …
- Strengthen bread and pastry dough … helps strengthen the gluten structure in bread and pastry dough, allowing it to hold carbon dioxide.
- Make your baked goods last longer … hold on to the moisture inside of your finished baked goods, which means that they won’t go stale as fast as their non-salt-containing counterparts.
Reflections on injustice & healing: themes from Jeremiah
Balm in Gilead — Grace Schulman
“Is there no balm in Gilead?”
So cries dour Jeremiah in granite tones.
“There is a balm in Gilead,”
replies a Negro spiritual. The baritone
who chants it, leaning forward on the platform,
looks up, not knowing his voice is a rainstorm
that rinses air to reveal earth’s surprises.
Today, the summer gone, four monarch butterflies,
their breed’s survivors, sucked a flower’s last blooms,
opened their wings, orange-and-black stained glass,
and printed on the sky in zigzag lines,
watch bright things rise:
winter moons, the white undersides
of a … condor, once thought doomed,
now flapping wide like the first bird
from ashes.
Questions to consider, based on text from Jeremiah:
- What are some of the injustices you notice in the world right now?
- What voices resist or critique those injustices? Who are the prophets of this age?
- What actions or words are helping reinforce the injustices you have noticed?
- Do people from within your community, or groups with whom you identify, speak up or take action about the injustices you are noticing?
- What are some signs of healing or hope that you see for those injustices … what “balm for Gilead” do you witness?
- What is a daily action or choice you can make, to become more aware or to affect change, about an injustice that is of particular concern to you?
Injustices Named
Our nation is reeling from shockwaves of violence, intolerance, anger, suspicion, and fear. At this moment it feels like our whole country is a powder keg, about to ignite, fueled by long legacies of racism, xenophobia, heterosexism, religious intolerance. — Anathea Portier-Young
… we must understand the lament’s power. Too often as Christians, we edit our prayers to God. We speak frankly to friends, advisors, and paid professionals, but we don’t speak frankly to God. Jeremiah holds nothing back from God and models a prayer life of both praise and lament. … These verses continue to resonate with both Christians and Jews as they confront the troubles of today’s world. What would Jeremiah say if he heard that more soldiers died from their own hand than in combat last year in Afghanistan? What should we say? How would Jeremiah react if he heard that 22 veterans a day commit suicide? Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 still tries to shake us from our complacency. — Garrett Galvin
This fact does not mean that the prophet should cease telling the truth as she sees it from God. But all truth telling is contexted by a careful listening to the pain of those very people…. We modern day would-be prophets would do well to listen carefully to the cries of our people. We may demand from them God’s justice, but in a highly complex and competitive world, the doing of justice may not be so clear-cut. When the people of our flock feel the pressing demands of a capitalist world to work hard and to achieve success; when the women are urged to “have it all,” to achieve great success in business and equal success as spouse and mother, while the men are to “be men” and to be relational and giving, yet powerful and winners, the cries of the people may ring loud in the land. — John Holbert
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. — Desmond Tutu
Non-violence doesn’t mean we have to passively accept injustice. We have to fight for our rights. We have to oppose injustice, because not to do so would be a form of violence. Gandhi-ji fervently promoted non-violence, but that didn’t mean he was complacently accepting of the status quo; he resisted, but he did so without doing harm. — Dalai Lama
Hope & Healing
To be contented human beings we need trust and friendship, which tends
to develop much better once we realise that all beings have a right to
happiness, just as we do. Taking others’ interests into account not only
helps them, it also helps us. Warm-heartedness and concern for others
are a part of human nature and are at the core of positive human values — Dalai Lama
The painful truth is that we are not the people we envision ourselves to
be—not always. We do not live up to the convictions we profess to be
the basis for our lives—not always. We may be in tune to the “justice of
the Lord” in some areas of our lives, but I guarantee that there are
others where we are not, and we are clueless about that fact. Jeremiah
calls us to ask not “Where is God?” but “What have I done?”—to pull back
the veil of our appearance of godliness so that we can find the way to
real healing. — Alan Brehm
We stuffed scary feelings down, and they made us insane. I think it is
pretty universal, all this repression leading to violence and
fundamentalism and self-loathing and addiction. All I know is that after
10 years of being sober, with huge support to express my pain and anger
and shadow, the grief and tears didn’t wash me away. They gave me my
life back! They cleansed me, baptized me, hydrated the earth at my feet.
They brought me home, to me, to the truth of me. — Anne Lamott
At the same time Jeremiah reminds me that life is not about sitting
around waiting for my medicine. Band aids and half –measures will not
bring the cure we need. Jesus heals me for a reason. I’m called to
love in return with all my heart, soul and mind, to extend love to my
neighbor in gratitude … I know of no other way, no other healing balm,
that helps me meet the daily challenges. So I listen to the spiritual
and will try to sing it every day this week: Sometimes I feel
discouraged and think my work’s in vain; but then the Holy Spirit
revives my soul again. — Lillian Daniel
Whom do we invite into our lives, our communities? How do we segregate our societies and how do we embrace diversity? What may we learn from our differences? Themes from Jeremiah & Luke.
When we set that table, we would do well to remember that we are not the
hosts, but the God who loves us all, and invites each and every one of
us to the feast. — Kathryn Matthews
Hospitality
means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter
& become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change
people, but to offer them space where change can take place. — Henri Nouwen
Everydayness (excerpt)— Emilie Townes
… there are other ways in which we sit here this morning
and i want to suggest that given the worlds we live in these days
however we are, as we sit here this morning
it’s normal
the challenge, i think for all of us is this:
what will we to do with the fullness and incompleteness of what we have
brought to this time and place
as we remember that we are in a world
that we have helped make
that needs a new, or perhaps ancient vision
molded by justice and peace
rather than winning and losing …
i’m talking about what we call in christian ethics, the everydayness of
moral acts
it’s what we do every day that shapes us and says more about us than
those grand moments of righteous indignation and action
the everydayness of listening closely when folks talk or don’t talk to hear
what they are saying
the everydayness of taking some time, however short or long, to refresh us
through prayer or meditation
the everydayness of speaking to folks and actually meaning whatever it is
that is coming out of our mouths
the everydayness of being a presence in people’s lives
the everydayness of designing a class session or lecture or reading or
writing or thinking
the everydayness of sharing a meal
the everydayness of facing heartache and disappointment
the everydayness of joy and laughter
the everydayness of facing people who expect us to lead them somewhere
or at least point them in the right direction and walk with them
the everydayness of blending head and heart
the everydayness of getting up and trying one more time to get our living
right
it is in this everydayness that “we the people” are formed
and we, the people of faith, live and must witness to a justice wrapped in
a love that will not let us go
and a peace that is simply too ornery to give up on us
won’t you join in this celebration?
Guest House — Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Questions to consider, themes from Jeremiah and Luke:
- What sort of privileges, status or power do you hold or inhabit? Which ones were you born into and which ones did you earn or achieve?
- How is your life segregated, so you spend your time with people like yourself?
- When and how do you spend time with people different from yourself?
- How do attributes of power, privilege, and status allow or interrupt your ability to make a difference?
- Who is someone, holding a position of status and authority and power, whom you admire as a role model?
- When have you sat down with people different from yourself to eat together? What was it like? How was it awkward or enlightening?
- When have you prepared the meal for others different from yourself?
- When have you been fed by others with different social identities than yourself?
On Privilege, Positions & Power
It is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. — Proverbs 25:7
That the people in her particular village were ‘the most marginalized,’
and often those furthest from her own milieu of ‘incredible social
privilege’ was what set her apart. — Dr Jonathan Jacobs (about socialite Judith Peabody)
Having power and wealth is not inherently evil; it is how one uses these
privileges that matters most to God. Is power used to oppress others or
to liberate them? Is wealth hoarded only for self-gain or shared with
those who have so little? When the human family works together on behalf
of everyone, life improves for all, and God is pleased. — Lisa Davison
When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we
would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept
vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable. — Madeleine L’Engle
We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone–but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy. — Frank Crane Do we welcome them on our terms, or with a willingness to say, “Today we are a different church because you are here in our midst, because you are part of us”? Let’s be the church, and let’s be open to the newness of what God is doing each day, the gifts brought in the person of new members, new friends, new Christians. — Kathryn Matthews
The centrality of honor in this culture teaches natives to stay always a step behind their rightful status, for it’s important that “one is not at all trying to appear or to be better than another person.” — John J. Pilch (commentary on Jewish culture in Biblical times)
Beneath all the great accomplishments of our time there is a deep current of despair. While efficiency and control are the great aspirations of our society, the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression, and a deep sense of uselessness fill the hearts of millions of people in our success-oriented world. … The radical good news is that the second love [human love] is only a broken reflection of the first love [God’s limitless love] and that the first love is offered to us by a God in whom there are no shadows … — Henri Nouwen
The churches must learn humility as well as teach it. — George Bernard Shaw
Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. — Thomas Merton
There are people who observe the rules of honor as we observe the stars: from a distance. — Victor Hugo
A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. — Desmond Tutu
A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. — C.S. Lewis
Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone. — C.S. Lewis
We are rarely proud when we are alone. — Voltaire
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. — Ernest Hemingway
Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. — C.G. Jung
With Whom Do We Eat?
Bread was important; in fact, where some eat and some do not eat, the kingdom is not present. — Fred Craddoc
When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist. — Dom Helder Camara
Eating,
and hospitality in general, is a communion, and any meal worth
attending by yourself is improved by the multiples of those with whom it
is shared. — Jesse Brownerm
Hospitality
is hope … If you feel hopeless, go visit your cranky uncle in elder
care. Bring him flowers or a new pair of socks—nothing gives a person
more hope than a new pair of socks. Then, because you’ve brought the
hope, you will feel it. — Anne Lamott
Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect. — Brene Brown
Hospitality is the practice of God’s welcome by reaching across difference to participate in God’s actions bringing justice and healing to our world in crisis. — Letty M. Russell
We
don’t practice hospitality to point other people to ourselves, our
church, or even our beliefs. We practice hospitality to point people
toward the ultimate welcome that God gives every person through Christ. —
Holly Sprink
We might even go so far as to say, that the theology of Liberation can
be understood only by two groupings of persons: the poor, and those who
struggle for justice at their side—only by those who hunger for bread,
and by those who hunger for justice in solidarity with those hungering
for bread. Conversely, liberation theology is not understood, nor can it
be understood, by the satiated and satisfied—by those comfortable with
the status quo. — Leonardo and Clodovis Boff
When you start with an understanding that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind. — Emilie M. Townes
Greek word for hospitality, philoxenia, means ‘love of the stranger … banquet behavior fitting for the reign of God ought to affect dinner invitations even now. — Peluso-Verdend
Love … is not something you feel; it is something you do … Love
seeks the well-being of others and is embodied in concrete efforts in
their behalf. — Francis Taylor Gench
Jesus tells us to surprise others by our own dinner guest list, and
prepare for a “great” time, too. Perhaps we, too, will come to
understand a little better the meaning of true fulfillment and joy. — Kathryn Matthews
He comes as a guest to the feast of existence, and knows that what
matters is not how much he inherits but how he behaves at the feast, and
what people remember and love him for. — Boris Pasternak
True hospitality is marked by an open response to the dignity of each
and every person. Henri Nouwen has described it as receiving the
stranger on his own terms, and asserts that it can be offered only by
those who ‘have found the center of their lives in their own hearts.’ — Kathleen Norris
Meditations on treasures & legacies: what we cherish — themes from Hosea & Luke.
Seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasure; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity. — Mahatma Gandhi
You are searching the world for treasure, but the real treasure is yourself. — Rumi
When he returned home to France, [Lafayette] lived on his big estates and did very well. He was in the same social class as the rich man in Jesus’ parable … In 1783, after a poor harvest, Lafayette’s workers were still able to fill his barns with wheat. “The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat,” said one of his workers. “This is the time to sell.” Lafayette thought about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages. “No,” he replied, “this is the time to give.” — A story about the Marquis de Lafayette, who helped the American colonists during our War of Independence from Britain, 18th century (published as part of UCC commentary on Luke 12)
Questions on which to reflect about themes from Hosea 11 & Luke 12:
- What are idols? (PS: Rev Gail says they are: obsessions, addictions or passions that are out of balance in our lives because we focus time and treasures in ways that prevent us from putting energy and love where it belongs: with Godself, in just and compassionate human relationships [family & neighbors as defined by Christ] and into sustainable connection to creation.)
- What idols has faith and ethics — holy Love — helped us give up?
- What idols still have a hold in our individual and communal lives?
… the parable … doesn’t warn against money, wealth, or material abundance … warns against greed, about the insatiable feeling of never having enough. And the parable … illustrates this. The farmer’s problem isn’t that he’s had a great harvest, or that he’s rich, or that he wants to plan for the future. The farmer’s problem is that his good fortune has curved his vision so that everything he sees starts and ends with himself. — David Lose
Treasures: What Do We Cherish?
Stories hold us together. Stories teach us what is important about life, why we are here and how it is best to behave, and that inside us we have access to treasure, in memories and observations, in imagination. — Anne Lamott
I find that it’s essential during the day to actually note when I feel happiness or when something positive happens, and begin to cherish those moments as precious. Gradually we can begin to cherish the preciousness of our whole life just as it is, with its ups and downs, its failures and successes, its roughness and smoothness. — Pema Chodron
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. — Mahatma Gandhi
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. — Oscar Wilde
It occupies me … to exhaust the fund of sentimental treasure, which the Divine spirit poured into my mind. it was, indeed, a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. — Zilpah Elaw
… the problem isn’t … money but our penchant to look to money, rather than to God and each other, for life. — David Lose
I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money. — Pablo Picasso
There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
There is no wealth but life. — John Ruskin, The King of the Golden River
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. — Epictetus
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. — Socrates
He who is greedy is always in want. — Horace
To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace. — Confucius, The Analects
Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, the presence of each other, the wonder of our breathing. — Thich Nhat Hanh
Legacy: What Do We Leave Behind?
Are we really planning prudently? What gives our life meaning now, and what will give it meaning then? — Culpepper
At the end, all that’s left of you are your possessions. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been able to throw anything away. Perhaps that’s why I hoarded the world: with the hope that when I died, the sum total of my things would suggest a life larger than the one I lived. — Nicole Krauss, The History of Love
Fear of death increases in exact proportion to increase in wealth. — Ernest Hemingway
God’s people are not to accumulate stuff for tomorrow but to share indiscriminately with the scandalous and holy confidence that God will provide for tomorrow. Then we need not stockpile stuff in barns or a 401(k), especially when there is someone in need. — Shane Claiborne, Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said?
It’s never a question of skin pigmentation. It’s never a question of just culture or sexual orientation or civilization. It’s what kind of human being you’re going to choose to be from your mama’s womb to the tomb and what kind of legacy will you leave. — Cornel West
I get asked a lot about my legacy. For me, it’s being a good teammate, having the respect of my teammates, having the respect of the coaches and players. That’s important to me. — Peyton Manning
Humanity’s legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. — Doris Lessing
I’m not interested in my legacy. I made up a word: ‘live-acy.’ I’m more interested in living. — John Glenn
I think the whole world is dying to hear someone say, ‘I love you.’ I think that if I can leave the legacy of love and passion in the world, then I think I’ve done my job in a world that’s getting colder and colder by the day. — Lionel Richie
Meditations on bearing each other’s burdens: themes from Galatians 6
| Have you heard the phrase, “Share the load?” This week’s themes from Galatians reflect being in community by recognizing each other’s challenges and issues, and finding ways to work on them together. Link to scripture: Galatians 6: 1-10. — Rev Gail |
You live in me; I live in you. — Richard Rohr
Questions to consider:
- Whose burdens do you already help to share?
- When do you feel overwhelmed by serving and giving of yourself, and do you take time for self-care?
- What does self-care look like for you?
- How is your community part of your self-care?
- Do you feel responsible to solve all of the problems about which you are aware, or can you prioritize, and give your time and energy to specific concerns or causes that kindle a passion in you?
- Who has helped you to carry a burden?
Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Initially our loyalties were to ourselves and our immediate family, next, to bands of wandering hunter-gatherers, then to tribes, small settlements, city-states, nations. We have broadened the circle of those we love. We have now organized what are modestly described as super-powers, which include groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together — surely a humanizing and character building experience. If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth. Many of those who run the nations will find this idea unpleasant. They will fear the loss of power. We will hear much about treason and disloyalty. Rich nation-states will have to share their wealth with poor ones. But the choice, as H. G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing. ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Call Me by My True Names (excerpt)
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Call me by my true names
because even today I still arrive.
Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
… My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom
in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so full it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.
Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. — John Wesley
Love is the bridge between you and everything. — Rumi
Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious. ― Ruth Reichl
When we fully understand the brevity of life, its fleeting joys and unavoidable pains; when we accept the facts that all men and women are approaching an inevitable doom: the consciousness of it should make us more kindly and considerate of each other. This feeling should make men and women use their best efforts to help their fellow travelers on the road, to make the path brighter and easier as we journey on. It should bring a closer kinship, a better understanding, and a deeper sympathy for the wayfarers who must live a common life and die a common death. ― Clarence Darrow
Judaism … For us, faith is the redemption of solitude. It is about relationships – between us and God, us and our family, us and our neighbours, us and our people, us and humankind. Judaism is not about the lonely soul. It is about the bonds that bind us to one another and to the Author of all. It is, in the highest sense, about friendship. — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
As we continue our earthly journey, if we learn to bear each other’s burdens and to exchange the rich patrimony of our respective traditions, we will see more clearly that what unites us is greater than what divides us. — Pope Francis
I know that part of the mixed blessing of getting older is that you have lost somebody. You’ve lost more than one person maybe and you get that message that life is really short and to be here for it. And second of all, you’re seeing people who were given such an excruciating burden to bear and they did it, and they did it with a lot of support, and they did it one day at a time, and they did it against all odds and they came through. And there are certain losses you never get over, of course, but they’re not broken bones anymore. There are things that are going to make you limp for the rest of your life, but they’re weight bearing again. And when you’ve seen that up close, when you’ve seen people come through, it just changes everything you know about life. — Anne Lamott
He [author of Galatians] speaks to the plural, the Us of the community. A community which does not give up to self-indulgence reaps a good harvest. That community cannot depend on the efforts of a few; the community as a whole needs to use its freedom well. — Andrew Prior
And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. And I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. […] and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren’t moving wrong when we do it, because … God is love. — Martin Luther King
What I love about the ministry of Jesus is that he identified the poor as blessed and the rich as needy … and then he went and ministered to them both. This, I think, is the difference between charity and justice. Justice means moving beyond the dichotomy between those who need and those who supply and confronting the frightening and beautiful reality that we desperately need one another. ― Rachel Held Evans
When we do good for someone else a strange thing happens. We help someone thinking we are doing something for them, but in the practice of it we find that we are the one who is blessed. When we extend our heart to someone else, it is our heart that is filled. — Church for All People
Now human beings can begin to revel in what is meant by growing to full stature as a responsible and participative spiritual adult whose work on the planet really, really matters. Life, suddenly, is more a blessing both to the universe and to the self than it is simply a test of a person’s moral limits. To be alive, to be a person in the process of becoming, it becomes clear, is a blessing, not a bane. We are, alone and together, significant actors in the nature of life and the strengthening of the fibers of humankind. — Joan Chittister
You (and every other created thing) begin with your unique divine DNA, an inner destiny as it were, an absolute core that knows the truth about you, a true believer tucked away in the cellar of your being, an imago Dei that begs to be allowed, to be fulfilled, and to show itself. … This is your True Self. Historically, it was often called “the soul.” … Every Sacrament, every Bible story, every church service, every sermon, every hymn, every bit of priesthood, ministry, or liturgy is for one purpose: to allow you to experience your True Self—who you are in God and who God is in you—and to live a generous life from that Infinite Source. — Richard Rohr
I think we would have to agree that there is something built into the very nature of a life of sacrificial love, a life of bearing one another’s burdens, a life of loving your neighbor as yourself that is “wearying.” You give and give and give some more, and never really know if any of what you’re giving is doing any good at all! But Paul recommends that we take a longer look when we find ourselves getting discouraged. We need to look at things from a broader perspective when we feel that our work is insignificant. In a very real sense, our “bigger” perspective of the vastness of the universe and our place in it needs the “broader” perspective of the Kingdom of God that continues to grow and produce fruit until the final harvest day. — Alan Brehm
Emptiness and compassion go hand in hand. Compassion as transaction—me over here, being compassionate to you over there—is simply too clunky and difficult. If I am going to be responsible to receive your suffering and do something about it, and if I am going to make this kind of compassion the cornerstone of my religious life, I will soon be exhausted. But if I see the boundarylessness of me and you, and recognize that my suffering and your suffering are one suffering, and that that suffering is empty of any separation, weightiness, or ultimate tragedy, then I can do it. I can be boundlessly compassionate and loving, without limit. To be sure, living this teaching takes time and effort, and maybe we never entirely arrive at it. But it’s a joyful, heartfelt path worth treading. — Thich Nhat Hanh
The Bridge
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I stood on the bridge at midnight,
As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose o’er the city,
Behind the dark church-tower.
I saw her bright reflection
In the waters under me,
Like a golden goblet falling
And sinking into the sea.
And far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night in June,
The blaze of the flaming furnace
Gleamed redder than the moon.
Among the long, black rafters
The wavering shadows lay,
And the current that came from the ocean
Seemed to lift and bear them away;
As, sweeping and eddying through them,
Rose the belated tide,
And, streaming into the moonlight,
The seaweed floated wide.
And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A flood of thoughts came o’er me
That filled my eyes with tears.
How often, O, how often,
In the days that had gone by,
I had stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky!
How often, O, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide
Would bear me away on its bosom
O’er the ocean wild and wide!
For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me
Seemed greater than I could bear.
But now it has fallen from me,
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws its shadow over me.
Yet whenever I cross the river
On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odor of brine from the ocean
Comes the thought of other years.
And I think how many thousands
Of care-encumbered men,
Each bearing his burden of sorrow,
Have crossed the bridge since then.
I see the long procession
Still passing to and fro,
The young heart hot and restless,
And the old subdued and slow!
And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;
The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.
Where Will I Find You
— Yehudah Halevi,
translated by Peter Cole
Where, Lord, will I find you:
your place is high and obscured.
And where won’t I find you:
your glory fills the world.
You dwell deep within—
you’ve fixed the ends of creation.
You stand, a tower for the near,
refuge to those far off.
You’ve lain above the Ark, here,
yet live in the highest heavens.
Exalted among your hosts,
although beyond their hymns—
no heavenly sphere could ever contain you,
let alone a chamber within.
In being borne above them
on an exalted throne,
you are closer to them
than their breath and skin.
Their mouths bear witness for them,
that you alone gave them form.
Your kingdom’s burden is theirs;
who wouldn’t fear you?
And who could fail to search for you—
who sends down food when it is due?
I sought your nearness.
With all my heart I called you.
And in my going out to meet you,
I found you coming toward me,
as in the wonders of your might
and holy works I saw you.
Who would say he hasn’t seen
your glory as the heavens’
hordes declare their awe of you
without a sound being heard?
But could the Lord, in truth,
dwell in men on earth?
How would men you made from the dust and clay
fathom your presence there,
enthroned upon their praise?
The creatures hovering over the world
praise your wonders—
your throne borne high above their heads,
as you bear all forever.