Like many people, I am learning that — “if a little bit is good, more is better” – isn’t always true.
Wind is essential for sailing and without wind it is impossible to sail. There is almost nothing more frustrating for me than to find myself becalmed on the ocean – powerless and drifting nowhere. I recall a time a few years ago when a perfect south-west wind blew up and we finally set out to sail. This time there was a lot of wind but it built up with such intensity that it soon became impossible to continue sailing safely. In a matter of hours the wind became gale force and we were forced to take shelter in a protected cove. Thankfully we were able to ride out the storm. Wind is good for sailing, but too much wind can be dangerous and even destructive.
Living most of my life in the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, I developed a great appreciation for the warm daylight hours and bright sunshine of summer. But in winter, sunlight is reduced to a few hours a day and I know people for whom sunshine deprivation is the cause of “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD) or depression. In addition to its psychological benefits, it is also well documented that exposure to sunlight is necessary for the human body to produce Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin. Medical research indicates a correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and serious diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and some cancers. Sunshine is necessary for human health and well-being. However, while I have never been a beach going “sun-worshipper,” I recently learned that my skin is severely damaged by overexposure to the sun and that I am consequently at high risk for skin cancer. Sun is necessary for health, but too much sun isn’t good.
A couple of years ago while subjecting myself to the dietary regimen of a wellness clinic, I found the totally “salt-free” food tasteless to the point of being unpalatable. Yet by the end of the week my high blood pressure had dropped significantly into the normal range. Since then I have been very conscious of the excessive use of salt in most foods. While salt is often a necessary preservative, and while salt enhances the flavour of food, the overuse of salt is a dangerous contributor to obesity and cardio-vascular disease. A little bit of salt is tasty, but excessive salt is deadly.
Oddly, it was the adverse effects of salt and light that came to mind as I recently meditated on Jesus’ words describing his followers as being the salt of the earth and the light of the world.1 I believe it is impossible for there to be too much of what is good – too much salt and too much light in the world. Yet from what I observe in prisons of the world, the tragic experience for many inmates (as for people on the outside) is that the salt and light of Christian witness is often terribly disfigured and distorted.
While truth and grace and hope are desperately needed, the “salt” of Christian witness is often repugnant because it is encapsulated in the unsavoury news of judgment or unattainable moralizing. And the “light” of Christian witness is often hidden under the “bowl” of religion and inaccessible God-talk, or the bland rhetoric of humanistic tolerance and self improvement. At other times the “salt” seems so very overpowering and the light so very overwhelming that people are caused to turn away. Rather than the salt being proffered as a tantalizing taste of reality, it is as if the entire saltshaker is emptied — all at once onto a tiny morsel of food – and the light so bright and blinding that it feels more like a harsh interrogation spotlight than helpful illumination.
Conversion is surely the work of God, but it is up to the followers of Jesus to bear witness to God’s love through our witness of life and word. “Jesus wants us to be salt and light, but in the right amount and at the proper time. A little salt makes someone thirsty, but a lot of salt makes someone sick. A moderate light brings warmth, but excessive light burns and blinds. Similarly, evangelization is meant to offer truth in a way that attracts and appeals, free from pressure or moral superiority.”2
It strikes me that the salt of my witness would be more savoury and the light more illuminating if I attended more closely to what Jesus said just before the salt and light:
Blessed are the poor in spirit…
Blessed are those who mourn…
Blessed are the meek…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…
Blessed are the merciful…
Blessed are the pure in heart…
Blessed are the peacemakers…
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness….3
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1 St. Matthew 5:13, 14
2 “The Word Among Us” March 23, 2004 (Ijamsville, MD, USA; 2004)
3 St. Matthew 5:1-10
Ronald W. Nikkel is the president and CEO of Prison Fellowship International (PFI). For more information, visit the PFI web site.