Eating Salt

Besides being a religious symbol, salt is a universal symbol of alliance and friendship. In cultures all around the world going back for centuries in time it is well attested that when one shares salt with another a bond of friendship is established that requires each to protect and come to the aid of the other in time of need. This was so recognized in many cultures that people often tricked others into eating salt with them so that an alliance would be established. Even if done through trickery, a salt alliance was upheld.

This tradition is part of the New Testament, but it has been lost in translation. For example, the book of Acts begins with Luke explaining to Theophilus that Jesus taught the people for forty days after his resurrection. Then Luke says, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem” (Acts1:4). In the original Greek the phrase that is translated as “being assembled together with them” is literally “to take salt in common.” This would have meant something important to Theophilus.

The apostles often “ate salt together.” The very night of Jesus’ betrayal, Judas shared salt with the Savior, and that is why in the beautiful painting of the Last Supper by Da Vinci, if you look closely, you see that Judas holds a bag, presumably the silver, in his right hand, and his left hand has just tipped over a bowl of salt—depicting the fact that Judas had broken the fellowship and the covenant of friendship. He was a traitor.

BYU Education Week Day One

The first day of BYU Education Week has gone well. I taught my class on Faith Works By Words and met some wonderful people. That is what keeps me coming back to teach at Education Week. Just walking around campus with all these amazing people lifts and encourages. I wish I could transmit the feeling to you, but hopefully by talking about it and you reading about it you can feel it. But remember WORDS are powerful.

If you read this and think the words, "Poor me. I can't be there,"then the words will create negative feelings that destroy faith and instill depression and dismay.

But if you read this and think, "At least I get to hear about it, and I can imagine how it is," then you will have almost the same experience I am having. The WORDS you use make all the difference in the world.

So use your imagination and think about what it is like to be among thousands of believing, faith seeking, wonderful people. Feel the aura that exists, the love that emanates from them. Enjoy the sounds of people greeting each other with kindness and every where you go people making new friendships. It is a little taste of heaven.

Making Connections

Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone is their story. When we really know their story, we share in their life in a way that connects us together like blocks on a quilt.


The other day while walking through campus, I had this overwhelming notion overtake me that I would love to approach the strangers that were around me and ask, “What’s your story?”

I refrained for fear someone would bring a straight jacket and lock me away, but I find myself still hungry to know people’s stories. Hearing their stories is like unraveling a knot. It unties the façades of a person’s life and leaves bare the essence. Once the knot is untied you see the beauty and simplicity of the yarn that lies beneath the tight, stressed, wadded knot.

I can’t go up to strangers and ask for their story, but right now I am committing to listen better when friends open up and tell their stories. I want to hear them. I want to share and connect. I want to understand. I want to be "knit together in love" (Col. 2:2).

Best Friends

We talk a lot about the importance of family in the Church, and we should. Family is very important not only in this life but in the eternities. But as I was ready in the book of Ether this morning I was struck again with the importance of friends.

At the time of the tower of Babel when the language of all the people was changed, the brother of Jared first prayed that he and his brother’s language would not be confounded. And the Lord had compassion on them so that they could still communicate. But then Jared asked his brother to pray that the language of their friends would not be confounded and again the Lord answered his prayers so that they and their friends would retain the same language and be able to continue in their relationships.

This indicates to me that yes family relationships are important, but so are friendships. It is important that we cultivate and maintain strong friendships with people who share our common beliefs and will encourage and help us along the path of righteousness.

Connecting

The other day with “tongue in cheek” I wrote about being invisible during my book signing adventure. I was trying to be funny, but I think I missed the mark. Maybe it was because I ended by asking for comments about my book Gospel Insights, but instead of comments about the book many of you left comments about me. I’m a little embarrassed that it appeared I was fishing for compliments about myself, but I do appreciate all your kind words. It was very nice of you, and I will treasure the words. But there was something very good that came out of this and it was the insightful advice you gave and how you opened up your own hearts about being invisible. I loved that part of your comments most. It just goes to show how wonderful this blogging world can be.

I sometimes hear women say they can’t “waste time blogging,” and I can see how too much time on the computer would be a problem. But a few minutes a day can be a great blessing. Blogging gives us ways to communicate with each other—to find out what others are thinking and to share our own ideas.

Years ago people sat on their front porches and visited. Or they talked over the fence as they hung out laundry or did other chores. They connected. They spoke their minds and they heard what their friends and neighbors were saying. That connection between human beings is important.

Most of us don’t have front porches now. We don’t hang out laundry or do many chores that keep us outside where we can personally connect. But we can connect through technology. Instead of dismissing technology as a bad thing, we need to use it wisely.

So thank you for making this blog more interactive! I loved your input and hope you will all continue to share with me and others! As a matter of fact, I think from now on when I post something I’ll just imagine myself sitting on the front porch (I’ll have to imagine the front porch, too, since I don’t have one!) waiting for you to come sit in the other rocking chair to have a good visit with me.

We Need Each Other!

Thanks to all of you who left me birthday wishes here, on Facebook, or my email. It meant so very much to me! You helped make it the best birthday ever. There is something about facing the possibility of death, coming through it, and then celebrating your birth so soon afterward that makes that celebration more momentous.

One of the things that made it so meaningful is that through all this experience with Grizelda I have REALLY come to realize how much we mean to each other. The Savior’s words that we should be one with each other and with Him are not just nice advice. There is something about bonding with one another, caring about one another, sharing life’s experiences with one another, and rejoicing with one another that is essential to happy living here and Eternal living hereafter. We influence each other much more that we realize. A simple few kind words can change the course of someone else’s bad day. A smile, a hug, a heartfelt greeting can lift and encourage. And usually we don’t even know that we’ve done it!

So thanks again! It was the very best of birthdays. And I’m grateful I was here for it.

picture from: http://www.allposters.com/

Injecting Hope

It is surprising what a simple gesture of kindness can mean in a person’s life. As I look back on my life, I realize that there were a few people who greatly influenced me. The amazing thing is that in every case the things they did were small simple things–so small the people have no idea what an impact they had on me. But even though they don’t remember what they did, I do.
Growing up in what was then the small town of Centerville, my friends and I used to visit the older ladies that lived on our street. Two of these especially influenced me by their kindness. Mrs. Torrey once gave me an old book, Heidi, with the simple words, “I have only sons and so I want you to have this.” It made me feel so very special and important.
When only five years old, I’d write “books” of my own, illustrate them and go door to door selling them. Mrs. Torrey and Aunt Nora would praise my books so much that it felt like they filled me with helium.
Later, in high school, an English teacher, Miss Lee, encouraged my writing. She wrote at the end of one assignment words that I memorized. “Sherrie, You’ve got it–whatever it is. Don’t ever stop writing!!!” I can’t even count how many time those two sentences saved me when encountering editors who rejected my manuscripts and even a few other bumps in life.
Other friends such as Lucille Reading and Laurie Thornton warmed, encouraged and bolstered me, again without knowing what an impact they were having on my life. They just did what was natural for them. They loved me despite my faults. Whenever I’d get discouraged, I’d go visit Lucille and I’d come away lifted. When I went, I didn’t talk about my problems. I just knew that being in her presence for a little while would “cure” me. She was that kind of person. Laurie was the same way. Laurie was blind, but she had learned to laugh with life despite the fact that life had handed her some bad cards, and her laughter was infectious.
Often we read about people who have a mentor that takes them by the hand and plays a major part in their lives the way Anne Sullivan did in Helen Keller’s life. That does happen. But in my own life the most impactful influences have been brief, small occurrences like my young women’s leader, Barbara Davis, who despite the fact that I was being a brat during the lesson one night, patiently put up with me. Her love and kindness that night changed me.
I bring this up, because I think we underestimate the power we have to impact others. We never know when something as simple as a smile, a hug, a phone call, or an encouraging word is just what someone needs to send them on their way injected with hope–a hope that can last a lifetime. We are more influential that we realize, and we need to be more aware of the power we have to encourage others and use it.