the week's last thoughts

having coffee (well, hot chocolate) with the church staff at their weekly shop-talk meeting is always fun. it feels quite the privilege to be trusted into such a groups unguarded discussion. it's a group that is very easy to love and enjoy, to see how much they put themselves into the people they serve.
as i've been job searching on line, i came across service and catering positions w/ a food chain i've never eaten in...so we decided it would be prudent to actually go in and taste it (my host and myself, we parted ways with the others). turns out i'm actually impressed w/ the selection, and for some reason beyond me i'm actually going to apply for the catering slot. it doesnt really make sense to me why i would do this, but since it is such an odd draw to it, i figure i'd better respond even if it's just a test of willingness.
following this was another visit to the bookstore, so that my host could go through her meeting notes as well as prepare for other things, including our bible study in the evening. i was able to finish going through the doctor who magazine i encountered earlier on sunday afternoon, and then began to investigate the direction for the bible study myself. mainly i used my fancy phone and all it's technological glory, but i did notice while i was walking around the store after being satisfied w/ my findings there - a book about salt (our study passage was matthew 5:13-16). i would have bought it if i had the resources to do as i please. the author was traveling around in europe and was eating a fantastic steak, with some difficulty he was able to find out why it was so wonderful - salt made by the owner's brother, a salt artisan. i've noticed lately in the store all the various fancy salts, but it didnt occur to me till flipping through this book and reading his discoveries and realizations that our salt is, well, awful. it belongs in the category of white bread and soda. it's mass produced and has nothing to do w/ its roots of handmade regional flavor and time-consuming value. no wonder we dont understand the bible's confidence in a 'covenant of salt'. i still dont get it. but i do know this after the cumulation of poking around, salt was required on all the grain offerings, dictated in leviticus, and Jesus calls himself the bread of life - the ultimate sacrifice - and if we are the salt of the earth, we are to cling to Him before God. i got that from a guy named ron miller. this passage of Jesus' teaching is so visual. come to think of it, he was pretty much always making connections that we put together w/ our familiarity and visual knowledge. but then He'd go beyond that. i was taught that the first place something is mentioned in the bible is usually significant. and the first mention of light is so obvious, i couldnt help but see it. He says we are the light of the world, and the first thing God spoke into existence was light. before there was a sun or moon. and Jesus is called the light. and in the end, when the sun and moon are gone, there will still be His light. so we are light w/ Him? that's a pretty big deal. it's also a big deal when you pull the whole thing together, and look at who He's talking to. the poor in spirit, the desperate, the meek, the mourning who will find comfort, the hungry righteousness seekers, the pure in heart, the merciful. yes, a world w/out these people, it would be dark and flavorless. the desperate will be the most alive when given new breath, those who know pain know great joy when things are made right, when justice wins there is freedom...yes, the world needs these people. the world needs them light a city on a hill, like salt in their food.
a thought i had at the bible study was the safety of a town lit at night, but this morning i'm also reminded of the safety of a salted road. i dont know if it is ironic that Jesus says the flavorless salt is thrown on the ground and is good for nothing... but here, they value salt on the road. it means they can travel and do life without worrying that they will end up on the side of the way, stuck somewhere.
i leave today. i'll be back home by midnight. and i wonder, will i be here again? so many beautiful hearts have made it clear they already long to have me back, to have me be part of life here. i'm so touched by that, i really dont know how to feel, but obviously humbled. to have been adopted upon first meeting by this new family here... i hope to see them again. how strange it feels. i've only ever known my family back home, and they truly are family to me. i shouldnt have any ease to leave them. yet God puts in our hearts things we may never understand, and will never be able to explain. i think he has enabled me to have a peace about all this. even though there are puzzle pieces still in his hands. i will simply wait to see what it looks like as he places them upon the table. ...yeah.