Be like Light

I’ve always loved the call to action in The Bible that says “Be the salt and the light of the earth”.

Salt makes everything taste better… even sweet things need salt in order to balance out the flavour. Without it, food tastes sad and empty. With it, something simple and unassuming can become incredibly bold and wonderful.

Light is essential. We need it to see so we can make sense of our world and sense of ourselves within it. We need it to connect, to protect ourselves, and to know which direction to move. Without it there is only darkness… an empty void of confusion, fear, and easy assumptions or misunderstandings. Darkness is not nothingness, but it hides what can be. Even the smallest amount of light in the depths of darkness can provide clarity, comfort and a source of strength to go on.

“Be the salt and light”, this has been my life’s mission. At every opportunity, I have done everything within my power to bring more flavour, colour, boldness, and meaning to all the things and people I care about, especially those I care about the most. While on that mission to sprinkle salt and shine light on all the things and people I love, my life was filled with excitement and adventure. It was good but never truly satisfying.

In isolation, without the ability to create new storylines, and having only my own company to pepper with salt and light, life has become dull. I’ve come to realize maybe all of it has been a distraction and somehow I missed the point of my true mission.

The call is to “BE the salt and the light” and all I’ve been doing has been trying to create salt and light for the people and things I care about most. Creating something requires effort and drawing from external resources. It means standing for something outside of yourself. Salt and light are beautiful things to stand for, but I never considered that maybe I already am inherently salt and fully light.

Less doing,

More being.

The way I see my mission now is to bring my whole self into everything I care about. What would my relationships, work, worries, loves, feel like if I could just own my saltiness and own my light? I don’t know yet, but this feels like a clarity that has the power to change everything for the better.

We’re always changing and always growing. I am hopeful. Let’s see.