Salt hasn’t always come to us in free packets in takeout.
Once it was mined from the earth or extracted from the sea.
It reserved food so our forebears could survive winters or long journeys.
Salt was the making of cities and trade routes.
It was so valuable it was used as currency and given as tribute to emperors and kings.
Salt was once used to seal covenants and make holy offerings.
And salt courses through our veins, flows in our tears, seasons the sweat from our labors.
Salt is essential for life.
So when Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth he is telling us that we are persevering, lively, community-building, life-sustaining, valuable, holy, and essential.