Salt

A message to be deciphered beyond its present use

March 3rd 2015
Salt is an everyday part of our food. It seems quite natural to put it on the table along with the water and bread. But since it first appeared in the primitive ocean from which the earth gradually emerged, so many events have punctuated its history! Salt is inseparable from our origins. We have a vital need for it. And it does not just give flavour to food, it also preserves it. Do you give a single thought to the salt you sprinkle into a dish or onto your plate? You have a little taste, checking to see that there is enough of it, and your tongue lets you know while your mind wanders off elsewhere. And yet, isn’t that the time for deciphering the message God is sending you through the salt? What a long way it has had to come, first from the sea, then dried by the sun’s rays, before arriving at your home on your table! And now that it is about to enter you, you can also study its symbolic significance by meditating on Jesus’ words to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth’.