Salt & Light

“The Universe and the light of the stars come through me.” - Rumi

There is so much about us that is magnificent. Sometimes we forget. At least, I forget sometimes. Spiritual practice is all about remembering.

This week I’ve spent some wonderful time remembering who I am and it is in perfect alignment with today’s continued deepening into the Sermon on the Mount.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.” - Matthew 5:13

This is a true and deep metaphor. Let’s start with the first two words… you are. This is akin to the phrase we use so often, I am. We are the expression of our consciousness, which is expressed by way of our thoughts… and our thoughts become our experience. So the salt of the earth, these are our thoughts. When the salt loses its flavor, that is, when our thoughts go off the rails (and hasn’t that happened to all of us at some point) they no longer serve us constructively. 

There is a very important lesson that could pass us by in this if we are not careful. When the question is raised, “can its saltiness be restored?” this is not a mistake. It can’t be restored, just like our erroneous thoughts cannot be erased. When we are trying to resist the erroneous thinking we are tacitly telling our conscious mind to keep those erroneous thoughts at the forefront of our thinking. What does that do? The thoughts continue to create.

How about, rather than trying to change our thoughts we settle into letting those erroneous thoughts go and welcoming in the new.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

Light is a symbol of intelligence. When we become illuminated by Spiritual intelligence this cannot and should not be hidden away from the world. In a culture where we are taught to be humble this may seem like an antithesis. Let your light shine! We should never try to hide our light.

Allowing our light to shine inspires others to do the same. Let it be rooted in a deeper sense of Infinite Reality. We get to chose our experience of life. Let that Infinite Reality be celebrated! That reality is the Father, or the creative nature, within you that determines your experience of heaven. You get to decide if you are living in heaven now, or descending to another place. It’s all up to you. Shine! Shine! Shine on!