Icebreaker

Right after we moved, our old neighbor Mitch sealed Chateau's new concrete for the price of a homemade chicken pot pie. He's a bit of a concrete expert and advised us to not salt our driveway for three years while it was "green" (curing) or salt would tear it up. We promised we wouldn't use a grain of evil salt and waved him goodbye.

Two winters later (well, almost two if this one would ever end) I'm rolling my eyes at Mitch. Suncrest's 6,140-foot face-off with the north wind + an inclined driveway + my gutless, snow tire-less van = a recipe that demands salt. In fact, our concrete baby better hurry it up and mature into a tough concrete toddler by October 2020 because I'm ready to sprinkle salt like there's no tomorrow.

Keeping our salt-free promise to Mitch has been possible only if one is inclined to shovel till one's rotator cuff falls apart. Hence, we were forced to "invest" (another eye roll, but to be fair, it was Greg's rotator cuff on the line, not mine) in an Arctic-approved snow blower just smaller than a Smart car after the three of us shoveled the remains of the last storm for five hours and still couldn't clear the driveway. We named her Bigger Bertha and for what she cost we will have to decide which child we love the most and bequeath it to them in our will.

Now that Greg has a balaclava and ski goggles for snow removal and I have operated Bertha twice by myself we feel confident here in No Sodium Narnia—unless we have to step foot on our front porch. It is a wind-whipped ice block of a death trap. It is always screaming for salt, and from its cries I discovered a hidden treasure in this oft-quoted New Testament scripture:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. -Matthew 5:13

In the margins of my Bible I have written PRESERVATIVE, FLAVORER, ANTISEPTIC (PURIFY) and the name CARLOS ASAY, which is a nod to the famous "salt talk" given by Elder Carlos Asay in 1980. A few excerpts:

This white substance occupies an important place in our lives. It is essential to health; body cells must have salt in order to live and work. It has antiseptic, or germ-killing, properties. It is a preservative. It is an ingredient in many foods and products. And it is estimated that there are more than fourteen thousand uses for salt.

According to the historians, “Salt at one time had religious significance, and was a symbol of purity. … Among many peoples, salt is still used as a sign of honor, friendship and hospitality. The Arabs say ‘there is salt between us,’ meaning ‘we have eaten together, and are friends’” (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1978, 17:69).

Let me stop here and say how awesome it is to find a solid encyclopedia reference in this 80s time capsule. Takes me back to my Dewey Decimal card catalog days in the school library, where I'm wearing Velcro sneakers (with the zipper pocket on the side for my milk money) and carrying my rainbow Trapper Keeper. *happy sigh* Let me also add that as a hostess who has her special guests sign a tablecloth after eating in her dining room I love "having salt between" my friends and loved ones.

I think it's generally understood if the Savior compared his disciples (us) to salt then our remaining unspotted from the world affords us power to preserve, enhance, and purify important things in this life. The way we sprinkle our salt can make things in this world last for worlds without end. Salt's power seems to focus on outward purposes, for the betterment of mankind. But what about mankind who could do so much better?

Today, in the aftermath of the season's 398th blizzard, I realized I've been overlooking one of salt's fourteen thousand secret powers. Salt melts ice! That has to mean something, right?

Does salt help icy people? Does it warm those with cold shoulders? Free those who are frozen in fear? Heat those who are numb? Is there anyone that authentically shared and lovingly applied salt can't help?

What of my own shivering? I really, truly want to be good but sometimes ice runs through these veins and I come off as the understudy for the White Witch. When I'm frosty toward my fellow men and sliding down my own slippery slope can I salt myself? Is that even possible? I don't think so, not when being unsavory is so clearly defined as "good for nothing". If hell is literally freezing over my only hope is rock salt; my only help is Christ. Salt isn't just for me to toss on everyone else; it's what I need to kill my natural man.

The salty life is a cycle of being qualified and clarified. Honestly, it involves a lot of thawing. In other words: Behind every savory salt seeker is a lot of repenting.

If a disciple of Christ is salt, and disciples aspire to become like Him, then He must be a perfect form of salt. Maybe The Rock is salt, not stone. How else could such mighty change be wrought in the souls of men?

Photo from ChurchofJesusChrist.org