Tower and Town, March 2020

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Clergy Letter

Jesus said: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” That might not seem like a compliment. Before the day and age when you could buy salt at Tesco for under a pound, it was a profoundly valuable commodity. Jesus emphasises the precious value of his followers with his simple comparison. To call someone ‘Salt of the Earth’ is to praise their contribution to our world; without it we wouldn’t be living in half as nice a place.

Today we use salt on our roads when the weather threatens to turn icy because, of course, salt melts ice. I remember quite a few years ago this part of the UK was hit with a snowy, icy period of a few days - as close to a blizzard as England ever gets, and the Motorway Agency ran out of road salt. A mountain of it needed to be purchased from Italy to ensure we could continue to use the motorways.

Luckily, in the UK, road salt isn’t often needed, because on the downside it causes cars to rust and their bodywork to fall apart. I’ve seen its appalling damage in North America and owned numerous cars that fell victim to being exposed to it for months and months at a time.

In food, we use it as a flavour enhancer. The most trendy salt is ‘Himalayan Pink’; especially among those who believe in regular fasting, as it suppresses hunger pains.

Too much salt on our roads or in our diet can be bad news. There is a special very low-salt diet that NHS doctors put you on before they try medication for high blood pressure. It’s called the ‘DASH’ (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet. I’ve been on it and I must say I really missed the white stuff!

So, what might Jesus be up to with this lavish compliment? Yes, salt is deeply valuable and adds so much to so many things, as might his followers if they follow his teaching; but, it seems also to be the case that Jesus is suggesting that it might be possible to have ‘too much of a good thing.’ Does too much salt in one place, like lawn fertilizer, merely burn the grass rather than help it to grow? Are there an over-abundance of Social Justice Warriors who are trying to outdo each other with progressive good deeds?

Jesus was simply saying that, just as a little salt goes a long way - just a few followers, just a few who heed his words, just a few who attempt as faithfully as they can and as often as they can, and not even necessarily without fail and always, to make the world a better place by enhancing it with a dash of goodness, that’s all it will take to improve the lives of a great deal of people. It only takes one hero to save Gotham City. A small family team like ‘The Incredibles’ can save the world. A little ‘dash’ and nothing more.

Tim Novis