Salt and Light

What is the '#Salt and Light' tag?

Christians are bidden to be the salt of the earth, to not hide our light beneath bushels. Our worldview shines through our sub-creations - art, fanfiction, original stories, videos, comics, podcasts, anything we can imagine and make, on any host, server, or site - whether it is explicitly Christian or not.

We believe in one God, holy and perfect in every way, who sent His Son to live a blameless sinless life, to die on the cross to assume our sins, to rise again on the third day and utterly conquer death. We believe in the Commandments and instructions He has given us, the principles by which we are to live our lives.

We believe in hope. In love. In joy. In peace. In strength in the face of adversity. In justice, and mercy, and redemption, and forgiveness.

This is not a nursery-school or Sunday-school tag, all butterflies and rainbows (although such stories are, indeed, most welcome!) The fics that this tag covers range from the fluffiest comfort, to the grittiest dystopias. Viewer caution is advised.

But what all these fics will have in common, is that certain outlook on the world that comes with redemption through the Son. The hope. The joy. The faith. No matter how dark or difficult it gets. It is the candle that cannot, will not be hid.

Gardening makes for most excellent theological ponderings.

One time I heard Jeff Durbin preaching on John’s gospel and how on Sunday morning outside the empty tomb, Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener. Interesting detail, yes? Maybe she knew the gardener personally and Jesus looked vaguely like him from a distance.

Or maybe, possibly, it’s because He was working the ground….

And the eschatological implications of this possibly being the case just broke my little brain.

Christ is the new and better Adam. John begins his gospel in recapitulation of the creation language of Genesis. The world is not the same. The old has passed away, the new has come. In the beginning….

And then of course I have been listening to Andrew Peterson lately (not sure if I’ve mentioned it) and I had never really thought about the significance of Saturday—the day Christ is dead in the ground—being the Jewish sabbath in light of the creation week.

He said that it was finished, and the seventh day He blessed it. God rested…

And then God wakens in the garden and He has work to do.

And God walked in the garden in the cool of the day.

OK I'm sorry I'm going a little feral about this so

Genesis 3:

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."

John 20:

She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!”

Girls, I have begun to plant the garden.

You know what that means.

(Besides photo spam and potato symbolism)

Precisely! (Also of course my dear)

you are 23  and your hands hold steady the block of wood you are shaping and the sweet aromatic smell of sawdust is curling around you  maybe your mother’s voice floats through an open door to tell you a meal is ready maybe you still have something to learn about carpentry as you work alongside Joseph 30 years is a long time to spend waiting quietly faithful, caring for your mother and your father, for your sisters and your brothers working with your hands ‘til the hands of God are calloused going to the synagogue to hear your words read week upon week you are 23 you are patient  building a whole life of not my will but yours, Father

maybe you pick up a nail from the workbench look at it and know 10 years from now rough hands will hold you down and drive a spike through your wrist  spilling blood onto rough wood  maybe you are already making that sacrifice now quietly faithful maybe you can teach me how to be 23 waiting, quietly faithful caring for my mother and my father, my sisters and my brothers working with the hands God gave me hearing your words week upon week

build in me a whole life of not my will but yours, Jesus

Girls, I have begun to plant the garden.

You know what that means.

(Besides photo spam and potato symbolism)

Girls, I have begun to plant the garden.

You know what that means.

They don’t want you to know this but you can just put seeds in dirt and AND—!!!

Update: I tried it

Imagine having the kind of courage that lets the dough rise when it’s not quite cleaning the sides of the bowl yet.

This isn’t a profound spiritual metaphor I’m just making brioche