Salt

Have you ever heard the phrase pouring salt on an open wound? Nolan had first hand experience this week - "Mommy, my lips hurt. I need chapstick!" He exclaimed as he devoured guacamole on salted tortilla chips through his chapped lips. Outside of treating canker sores, it is hard for me to comprehend the success behind salting wounds as a healing practice. I am thankful for our human desire to better our lives with advancements like Neosporin. I suppose there weren't too many options in yesteryear, but anticipating and enduring such great pain before healed flesh revealed itself; that there is the definition of perseverance. Every scar earned it's story.

I wonder if experiencing pain is an inherent part of the healing process. If we had no pain, no regrets, no remorse, would we learn from our mistakes? Realize the blessings and opportunities we have been provided? One of the audio books I listened to last month titled Super Attractor, stressed the importance of focusing on good energies, good thoughts, and good experiences. When we focus on the light, it is hard for the dark to take over, to be salty about what path life has taken us down. When we embrace the pain, the struggle, the difficulty and focus on all we have been given, we are able to attract and let in the light. By going through something really ugly, we have the opportunity to realize the beauty this life has to offer. A choice to focus on the good. 

My felt board has donned this quote for a few weeks now. I purchased the board to help add motivation and inspiration to our day as we left our home for school and work, in a millenial fashion. I am sure pouring salt on an open wound was never easy, but knowing that some day the body would be healed provided courage. There have been days filled with tears, pain, frustration, anger, and doubt, but I am noticing that each day my load is lightened. I seem to be finding my own way, making progress on my own time. 

So what do I do with these scars, these healing wounds? This past Sunday the gospel reading was from Matthew 5:13-16, and coincidentally it referenced salt:
     'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet.
     'You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.
     No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.
     In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

Yes, our wounds and scars have been earned, Pain is a part of living on this earth. But despite our wounds and scars we all have an opportunity to share grace and humility with one another. I absolutely refuse to use the phrase "human experience", but we are all here to help one another heal, move forward, and find our purpose to serve the Lord. 

God has created this path for us for a reason, it is up to me to figure out the purpose, to see the light. Earlier this fall I was talking to one of my teammates about my severe case of RBF - resting bitch face. She smiled and said, "I am not sure what you are talking about, you are one of the most pleasant people I have ever met." I have never thought of myself as a joyful person, but I realize that I am often my own worse critic. Maybe the salt is more healing than I will ever realize.