Today’s Scripture Reading (August 17,
2015): Leviticus 2
Rick Perry
and Donald Trump seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum as they continue
their run for the Republican nomination. Perry has moved at least some of his
staff from being paid by the campaign to working as volunteers – and they have
been freed to look for other jobs. Apparently money is slow coming in for the
Perry campaign (although Perry’s PAC seems to be flowing with funds to spend on
the campaign – of course, these funds are to be spent as PAC feels is
necessary). Donald Trump, on the other hand, has apparently revealed that as
long as he remains in a strong position in the polls, he is willing to spend
over $300 million of his own money in the campaign (sounds like a lot of money,
but Trump claims that his yearly salary is $400 million - I guess he will have
to decide how he can live this year on only $100 million if his poll number
remain strong.) But then, maybe that is not surprising – many are willing to
exchange money for power. And as expensive as political campaigns tend to be,
it is the cost of maintaining our societies. Expensive campaigns are not
required by dictators and military leaders. They are also not necessary for
campaigns run on a small scale. But for real democracy to work in large
society, the expensive campaign has become a necessary evil.
Ancient
societies ran on something different – and often that something was salt.
Cultures developed at different rates and those rates were often fueled by the
availability of salt. In fact, salt was so valuable in Roman times that soldiers
were often paid in salt. (I wonder what $400 million in salt looks like?) The
root of the word salary is actually found in this practice of paying wages with
salt. The magic of salt was that it allowed for meat to be preserved. This preservation
meant that there was food even in times of famine. Salt allowed for travel.
Without it a major portion of every day would have been spent in the pursuit of
food – and much of the food that was obtained would rot before it could be
eaten. And because of this, cultures would have been severely handicapped – and
the cultural development would have been slowed.
So it is not
surprising that salt plays a major role in the biblical narrative. Jesus said
that his followers were to be “the salt of the earth,” probably indicating that
they were to be the preservers of society. In the practice of giving a grain
offering, salt was forbidden to be excluded. Moses calls it the “the salt of
the covenant of your God,” and as such it had certain properties. The salt of
the covenant reflected that it was a pure covenant just as salt remains pure
and it was also an enduring covenant just as salt allows things to be preserved
and to endure. This covenant, preserved by salt, would never be corrupted over
time. But it is also a valuable covenant, just as salt at the time was expensive.
This was a covenant that needed to be valued by the people because the God of the
covenant valued the people – much more than the salt.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Leviticus 3
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