• I am salt and light in a dark and dying world
• I am salt and light in a dark and dying world
• I am salt and light in a dark and dying world
• I am salt and light in a dark and dying world
• I am salt and light in a dark and dying world

Conviction breaks my heart this morning as I read about the ancient city of Jerusalem. The city was full of religiosity and pretentious piety. Visiting the temple, offering sacrifices, and following the rules of the law served as justification for the Jews to ignore the social injustices occurring all around them. Prophets called for “repentance,” for the people to stop allowing systemic oppression of the poor, for the rich to change their ways, to give up their luxuries in order for the less fortunate to receive basic sustenance. There is no excuse sufficient enough to condone the enormous disparity in the inequal distribution of wealth, then or now. The powerful had no compassion for the needs of the disabled or the disadvantaged. It’s been thousands of years since the Babylonian exile; and yet, the conditions of human society are still exactly the same. I weep for the hard-hearted and for those who are exploited. I’m not a socialist or a communist. I don’t believe everyone should enjoy the same benefits regardless of their efforts. I do, however, want to encourage goodness, gratitude, and generosity. I do desire to attain the capacity within my own heart to hold myself to a higher standard of giving and receiving with open hands as a channel of grace and healing. I do aspire to be salt and light within my sphere of influence to the best of my ability. To shine and to flow are the extent of my calling, and obedience to these are the greatest reward for which I could ever hope to discover.