Reflection
You are the sat of the earth…
you are the light of the world.
Matthew 5: 13-16
When things go smoothly and everyone agrees, it’s easy to be saintly and let our light shine in the midst of approval and admiration. We can pat ourselves on the back and be satisfied that we are indeed the salt of the earth. The situation is different when being the light means facing opposition and people who do not see flavor in our salt. The temptation is strong to crawl under the bushel basket where it is safe. That’s where courage and commitment are required. That’s where the challenge is.
Prayer
May I try to be salt and light in my small circle of the world.
Action
Reflect on the meaning of salt without flavor and light that is hidden. How does it apply to you?
Suggested Reading
Jesus 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.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify God.”
Matthew 5:13-16
Salt for others; light for others: Because salt does not give flavor to itself but serves others. Light does not illuminate itself but serves others… Supermarkets sell salt in small quantities, not by the ton. And salt does not promote itself because it doesn’t serve itself. It exists to serve others, by conserving things and giving flavor. This is simple witness.
Pope Francis
There is no amount of darkness that can extinguish the inner light. The important thing is not to spend our lives trying to control the environment around us. The task is to control the environment within us.
Joan D. Chittister
Notice that Jesus says we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Not that we will be, can be or could be.
Richard Rohr
The Bible says that Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. On the job, in the grocery store, even among… friends and family members, God’s people are there to bring seasoning to an unsavory situation.
Joyce Meyer
Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.
Michael Strassfeld
No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.
Theodore Roosevelt
We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.
Ben Sweetland
There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
When you possess light within, you see it externally.
Anaïs Nin
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
Rabindranath Tagore
You are the light of the world!
You are the light of the world!
But if that light is under a bushel,
Brrr, it’s lost something kind of crucial
You got to stay bright to be the light of the world!
You are the salt of the earth
You are the salt of the earth
But if that salt has lost its flavor
It ain’t got much in its favor
You can’t have that fault and be the salt of the earth!
So let your light so shine before men
Let your light so shine
So that they might know some kindness again.
Godspell