Article June 11, 1927 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Mabel Hale, Lord Haldane

[From the Youth's Companion, Boston, Massachusetts]

Some of the world's most ancient highways were made by caravans carrying salt. The favorite hunting grounds of the pioneers were near the "licks" where deer and other wild animals made converging paths through the forests to places where salt could be found. Arabian and other Oriental peoples attached a peculiar sacredness to the use of salt; it was the symbol of covenant. It was neither food nor drink, but as a much desired flavor ... it was to be tested as the pledge of brotherhood. To eat of another's salt was to establish a lifelong friendship. Salt is a preservative. As something opposed to corruption and decay it had a place in the sacrifices of many lands. "Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." More than once Jesus referred to salt in significant language. When he spoke of his disciples as "the salt of the earth," he used an expression too fine to be lost out of human speech. Now and then we hear some man or woman of unusual character spoken of as "the salt of the earth." No one needs to have that allusion explained. But when Jesus said to his disciples, "Have salt in yourselves," that was a little different. For salt, in the use men make of it, is something applied from without. The command is worth thinking about. It has to do with that quality which scientific people speak of as "resident force." As applied to character, it means possessing within one's self the qualities which give permanence and preservation. Too many people are dependent on other people for their entertainment, their decisions, their opinions. No one can shut his life wholly away from other lives, and no one wants to do it; but it is lamentable that so many people have almost no resources of their own. The person who cannot be happy for an hour with no companionship but his own mind and memory and the enjoyment of what is about him is a very poor and dependent person. An important part of anyone's training should be the providing of such resources as shall make one self-reliant and able to face life with courage and hope.

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