Salt Vessels

A Taste of Wisdom
A yogi grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the mater instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked. “Bitter,” spit the apprentice. The master chuckled & then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt & put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, & once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink form the lake.” As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man. At this, the master sat beside this serious young man, who so reminded him of himself, & took his hands, offering: “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.

While listening to this parable being read aloud during my yoga class's closing Savasana I smiled (a perfect ending to a great class by the way). As a follower of Jesus, this parable spoke to my faith. Perhaps because I have ones precious to my heart that are currently in pain. That of course pains me. I realized that I, we, are the glass. But we have no need to become the lake, something we don't have the ability to be. By allowing Jesus to be the lake He desires to be in our lives our salt will be surrounded & washed away by His freshness.

"Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Luke 4:13b