There is nothing like the smell of warm cookies coming out of the oven.  After cooling, Mary, a newlywed, began to move them onto the plate for the guests who would be arriving in the next hour. One of the cookies slipped and fell to the floor to the excitement of the family puppy.  Before anyone realized the implication, the puppy swooped in, caught the cookie with a quick chomp and then dropped it, rolling on the floor in agony before running off coughing.  Everyone in the kitchen who had been scurrying about getting things ready, stood in silent shock staring at the crumbled cookie on the floor.  Like the sudden lifting of a fog, understanding descended!  She had used a cup of salt instead of sugar!! If the puppy wouldn’t eat them, what embarrassment awaited?  Have you ever either left the salt out of your favorite recipe only to find all the yumminess of a piece of cardboard or put way too much salt in the food leaving you to spit, cough, and rinse, in hopes of someday being able to taste again.

The use of salt is essential to life on one hand and a bit of a mystery on the other.  We don’t put salt in food so that we can taste the salt.  We put it in to bring out all the other flavors.  Too much dietary salt can leave one hypertensive among other fatal consequences but too little can compromise nerve conduction and muscle contraction, etc.

As we studied the Sermon on the Mount, we were invited by Christ, Himself, to accept the invitation to be “the salt of the earth.”  In our study, we found that salt is a symbol of our covenant relationship with Christ since it was used in many of the Mosaic sacrifices.  Perhaps, we learned as well that when we were baptized, we were “accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men.” DC 101:39. But did we also catch verses 9-10 in that same section?

For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men; And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. DC 101:9-10

A little pondering may have helped discover the hidden promise in these verses.  Salt doesn’t lose flavor with age or dilution.  It loses flavor from pollutants.  While the world needs the gospel savor, we can and must furnish, it is also a growing cesspool of pollutants.  How can we survive and keep our children pure from all that crescendoing filth?  Do you see it?  It is only if we aren’t functionally serious about being a savior to our neighbors, family, and friends, that we lose our savor.  If we are willing to act in the discipleship of the Beatitude staircase[1], and teach others to do likewise, can we hope to remain “unspotted from the world.”  To be a savior is to actively love, share, and invite all in our circles to come see, come help, and come and stay.

Like salt, we too, must add gospel flavor to our relationships without it becoming, all about us, or our message, too salty.  God has made it so that our loved ones’ lives depend on us because He can only save us if we are engaged in the saving of them.[2]

Here are a few more comfortable ideas:[3]

  • Anytime someone moves into your neighborhood or apartment building, take them a welcome basket filled with goodies and a “New Move in Brochure” (ask for one from the ward missionaries)
  • Plant more than you need in your garden, and take the extra produce around the neighborhood.
  • Use the holiday theme of the month to take a thought and goodie to those in your circles.
  • Offer to help an acquaintance search their genealogy, with help in the Family History Center or engage one of the FH consultants to help them. Simply ask, “Have you ever wondered about your ancestors?”
  • Post uplifting thoughts and memes from the prophet and apostles on your social media frequently, then respond to the likes, enhancing relationships.

May we be blessed to have a savory neighborhood as we act in our stewardship as it’s salt.

[1] See https://latterdaysaintmag.com/understanding-the-steps-on-the-pathway-to-discipleship/

[2] We receive God’s grace as we give grace to others  – DC 93:10-11 and “The only way for you to progress in your gospel adventure is to help others progress as well.” Elder Uchtdorf, Conf. 10/19

[3] Taken from personal experience and Joni Hilton in https://latterdaysaintmag.com/article-1-15057/