Salt and light

Ritual from Grace service Re:lentless

Re:lentless was a service in early 2021 when we were a year into the pandemic and in a renewed indefinite lockdown. People were weary and wondering when or if normal life would resume.

My section was partly inspired by the church in Leipzig, East Germany that began regular prayer meetings for peace and freedom in the 1980s. This must often have seemed like a small and futile gesture against oppressive systems and geopolitical forces. But in 1989 it was the seed of the street protests that brought down the Iron Curtain. And then there was a woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus. The big things will not happen without the small things that prepare the ground, plant ideas and act as catalysts. We need to remember this whenever our own small acts of hope and resistance seem futile in the face of the darkness.

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salt

taste some salt

taste some more salt

salt by itself is unpalatable
we can only eat a little
but a little is all that is needed
to change everything

salt can’t sit alone and pure
it has to mix and mingle to enhance
it has to become invisible

light

light a candle

turn all the other lights out

a candle is only small
but the darkness cannot overcome it

when small candles come together
they light up a room
a church
a street
or a nation

hope

salt and light are small things that go a long way

they change the whole of their surroundings
even though they are small

hope is a series of small things
that sustain our humanity

the big things will not happen for us
unless the small things have carried us there

hope is a butterfly effect
each tiny act changes the future

in the end, no hopeful act is wasted

god of small hopes
of mustard seeds and grains of sand
of stables and babies and upper rooms
of salt and fragile flames

encourage us to value small acts of hope

if we can’t be the flavour or the food
help us to be your presence

if we can’t be the sun or a spotlight
help us to be your presence

make us salt and light in all our situations
changing them by your subtle love

amen