Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* To See Ourselves
* Scripture: Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?" Matthew 5:13, NKJB

I have yet to see a coin that didn't have two sides. Sides that are different, just like most arguments and opinions.
Both sides of a coin represent the same value; not so with arguments and opinions.
The Scottish poet, Robert Burns, wrote a little verse:
"O would the gift the giver give (gie) us,
To see ourselves as others see us."

It is said that he conceived the ditty while sitting in church behind a lady all decked out in her Sunday finery, complete with a hat with a large feather on it, and watched as a louse crawled up her neck.
Ah! To see ourselves as we truly are - that would indeed be a gift from the Giver above. That's one side of the coin. Not only to see, but to possess the tact and fortitude to handle the truth, whether about ourselves, or about others.
The other side of the coin is truly to be able to see ourselves as we ARE, but NOT as others see us! Perhaps you have been told, as a youth undergoing teasing and name calling, that,

"Sticks and stones may break my (your) bones,
But words will never hurt me."

In all truth, words can cut deeper than any two-edged sword! Words can leave wounds that do not heal over time, as most physical bruises do. Harsh 'put-down' words can be like pouring salt into an open wound.
Think about a plant, any plant, a growing thing. We can readily see what is above ground; the stem, stalk or trunk, and the leaves, reaching up to the beneficial rays of the sun. The health of the plant depends even more critically upon the root system, however, the unseen network through which the plant is nourished. Damage to that system threatens the well-being of the rest of the plant. Salt is good, in the right place, but not on most root systems, the other side of the coin, so to speak.
A person's psyche - soul, self, mind - is like that plant's root system, not visible like the physical body, but ever so vital in the wellness and wholeness of the person. How easily can that psyche be damaged by ridicule and words that cut and rend asunder a person's self image.
We can relate how people went on to achieve great things in spite of criticism to the effect that they were dumb, and would never amount to anything, people like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. They are an inspiration, surely, but how many more Edisons and Einsteins would there have been - would there be - had their spark not been quenched by the cold water of ridicule and scorn.
The music and comedy act, The Smothers Brothers, got great milage from the line, "Mother always liked you best." Why? I think because it touches a tender spot with so many people.
We are vulnerable, each one of us, to wounding by words. The remedy is not in retaliation, but in lifting up, encouraging, comforting. We are called to be the 'seasoning' of the earth, not the salt poured into opened wounds. Salt, true, but different sides of the same coin.
This week, try to be the encourager, the enabler, the good 'seasoner' in someone's life. In doing so, you will not only lift up their life, but your own, as well.
April 2, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Paul wrote, “. . . God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.” Romans 5:15b, NIV

When it comes to seasoning, being totally immersed and saturated is more effective than mere sprinkling. Many recipes call for simmering, which spreads the seasoning thoroughly throughout the food. Soaking (steep) meat, fish, or vegetables for a period of time in seasoning - a marinade - is also used to impart the flavor prior to cooking.
So it is with Bible Study. Total immersion in the subject is to become “marinated” in the Word of God. Currently, we are becoming “marinated” in the Book of Esther. Not just the Esther contained in our Bible, but also the Apocryphal additions.
It troubles many people that the Book of Esther in the original Hebrew version does not mention God at all in word or direct reference. Yet Esther is a popular story for the Jewish people. Their Feast of Purim is a very nationalistic and joyous celebration, but is not a religious observance, per se. The actions of Esther and her cousin Mordecai saved the Jews from extermination in the days of the Persian Empire. Some author was so troubled by the exclusion of religious expression in Esther that additional verses were added in the centuries between Malachi and Matthew.
The Aprocryphal additions show Esther and Mordecai fasting and praying; God is thus brought into the story. The original Hebrew Esther was not changed; the Protestants followed the Hebrew text in this regard. The Greek translation of the Book of Esther, The Septaugint, contains the Apocryphal additions. Is the extra material necessary? That question has been debated hotly for centuries. The story stands well alone as given in our Bibles. Even if the name words for God don’t appear, the providence of God permeates the Book of Esther. You know it is there. You can “taste” it in the reading. The story is anti-semitic (anti Jew) every bit as much as the Holocaust of Hitler and the Nazi’s. The people were decreed for extermination. Why? Because the Jews separate themselves from whatever society they find themselves in and follow the laws and tenets of God. They are a distinctive people; always have been, and always will be.
In one of the key scenes in the story, Esther enters the throne room of the king, unbidden. The king wields the power of life and death through the symbol of his authority - the golden scepter. If he reaches out to the subject, in this case Esther, she lives, and all her people with her. If he withholds his “grace” she dies, the the disaster extends to all.
So, too, God reaches out His Golden Scepter to us. Will we reach to touch it?
January 26, 2003