Mark 9:49-50
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."
My wife and I watch some of the cooking shows on the food channels. In 99% of the recipies they use salt to bring out flavor. Too much salt can be dangerous, but no salt leaves the food bland and tasteless, sometimes even bad. A little spice can bring out the "life' and flavor of the food.
Today's reading from Mark ends with Jesus comparing our lives to salt. This is right after he tells us not to sin and cut off our appendages if they cause us to sin. Today he says if salt loses its potency or flavor, then what good is it. Just throw it out. In Matthew gospel Jesus again uses the salt comparison. He said to his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." In Jesus's time people regularly used salt to preserve meat. It was used to keep things edible and helped to bring out the flavor of the meat or other food. However if the salt went bad, then so did the food they were trying to preserve. It became useless.
That's how it is with us in the eyes of Jesus. We must stay fresh spiritually. So how do we stay fresh, how do we remain useful? We must study scripture, live by the teachings and put our faith into action. Volunteer, spend time at church, read and watch the right things. It can be hard though. Work, extra activities, keeping the house going, social life can be a distraction to keep ourselves "fresh" and in season. But like any vitamin or spice, you need to use it to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit. Otherwise like spices in your rack, or vitamins in your medicine cabinet…if you don't use them, they go bad.
