Making Heaven Part 5

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

In my early years, I remember being told that this verse has to do with proselytizing the “gospel” and the obligation of those who know the “good news” to share it with others. As I have reread it recently, it occurred to me to think of “saltiness” differently. What is the saltiness of salt? It is the thing which makes salt salt. And to me, that means that I need to work on making sure that when I interact with the world, I am more essentially me.

What does that mean, more me? Well, that is part of the problem, isn't it? We live in a world now (and Christ certainly saw this tendency way back when) where the false is prioritized above the true. Pretending is easier than actually being good. And so we forget who we are. We hide it until no one knows what authenticity is.

But if we are willing to do the work of finding who we are again, then we will be true salt, with its saltiness intact. We can be the light of the next verse, but only if we know who we are. For me, I think that means being a writer. It also means being a mother and a Mormon, though my true kind of Mormonism may not be the same as someone else's. To hide and pretend is to give up my saltiness, to become useless. I can only share something with the world if I first know who I am.

When people see our authentic selves, they are inspired to be authentic, as well. This glorifying of God is the glorification of what we see here, His works here on this earth. People become happier when they are freed to be truthful in the best sense, and when they are unchained from the fetters of doing what is not real.