By Dr. Jimmy Braswell
Chaplain, Home Hospice of Odessa
The Lenten Season reminds us that there is a natural sweetness that covers the sour of life with a little salt added.
When I was growing up in Odessa, our family was so large that there were few added snacks or deserts. We had iced tea for supper and there were halved lemons to add to it.
We took turns eating the lemons after supper. It was a good treat. I would salt the lemon and there was a strange sweetness that would come to the lemon juice that was delicious. I looked forward to that treat. So it is with the sour or bitter experiences of life.
The salt of God’s presence and help bring a strong sweetness out of the experience that can make it even enjoyable. We learn and grow strong from experience. As the old cliché goes: If you are given lemons in life, make lemonade. The strangeness of the experience lies in the fact that we never fully expect it. If I tried to eat the lemons without salt, it was too sour. But the salt made the lemon juice good.
The crucifixion of Jesus was sour and bitter but out of God’s purpose, “salting the experience,” the sweetness of the resurrection came and the promise of yours and my eternal life. Glory to God. He is Risen. The resurrection experience in trusting our lives to God brings sweetness and meaning to our lives every day.
