salt-shaker.blog

This is an unusual post, as it is an announcement of the website that will be a backdrop to Saltshaker blog. My life with the Lord has had its twists and turns, trials and disappointments, challenges and chastenings. Yet through it all there has been a beacon, a guiding light, a bracing Presence Who has picked me up from numerous falls, lifted my gaze when I turned inward to self or outward to circumstance, and reminded me that reality is His to reveal. I have lost interest in pretty much every passion I have had in life – but not this one. The only explanation is that I am not alone in this pursuit. It is not a mere lifestyle. It is connection with the Eternal that I have not deserved or earned or maintained without divine intervention and direction. Many of you reading this will understand. Some will strain to grasp. It is not an intellectual apprehension, but the heart conviction that comes from abandonment to something that is more than logic and reason but not less. It is something beyond earthly enjoyments, but also an enhancement of them. Life in as well as with. Inexplicable but compelling. Delightful though the cross is the center. Peace that passes understanding.

On this journey I have had many questions, some answered, some still simmering. Being inquisitive, I revel in engaging conversation about lofty considerations, but life limits one’s opportunities for that kind of interaction. Not many enjoy such banter, I find. So I turned to books, fellowshipping with those who left a trail of thoughts and experiences in their writings before they crossed over. And what a wonder when the internet became a treasury of accessible material – especially during pandemic isolation. That time period birthed a collection of resources to answer questions and explore untrodden paths. The Saltshaker web site became the repository for short form information I did not want to misplace. For the ‘curious mind with a short attention span.” (Mike Rowe)

Remaining true to the King Whose call is counter cultural, an insult to our autonomy, an invitation to die to self, is a choice that is contested – to say the least. It is a rocky, narrow, steep path. But it is the highway to holiness, the road of reality. Jesus claims that few choose it. Those who do are in constant danger of turning back. Hence the parable of the salt.

“Salt is a very good thing, but if salt loses its flavour, what can you use to restore it? It is no good for the ground and no good as fertilizer. People just throw it away. Every man who has ears should use them!” Lk 14:34-35 jbp This sums up the point of the stories He had just told of a royal banquet and kings going to war. People were too busy with the earthly side of life – too attached to possessions and relationships to answer the call to fellowship with the King or enter the conflict of kingdom living. Without vision of something beyond our present locale we will not endure as kingdom citizens, becoming useless for both worlds.

So it boils down to commitment. Losing your life to save it. Living on kingdom terms and not your own. Facing both failure and obedience that wounds friends and family. He asks if we want peace with earthlings or the sword of separation to Him – to learn to live in an awkward space that is often illogical, confusing, and impossible. Get out of the boat and walk on water? Really? I have the marks of following an arduous path that stretches across the chasm of death. Others have also paid for my life lessons. But His scars bear my name, so I will cherish Him and trust His providence for them.

So wherever you find yourself, know that eternity is worthy of this way. Leave all reservations at the door. Hopefully my musings on the blog provoke contemplation, and the website provides helpful tools. There is a lot more out there, I know. What I have compiled is narrowed by my interests. I am by nature a curator, so I will be adding and subtracting as I go. Enjoy!

Be good salt! And then get out of the shaker!

Shalom