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Many years ago, I read a quote that said (and I paraphrase), “Give people a reputation they will want to live up to.”  Since then, I have tried to make this a motto for my life and to live it as best I could.  To say that I was 100% successful in doing this would be to give myself a reputation I have not lived up to.  In one of our R.C.I.A. sessions last year, we were talking about the gifts each one of us have.  The conversation got around to the gift of speaking in tongues.  My understanding of the traditional explanation of this gift is: a miraculous faculty granted by the Holy Spirit to a person, allowing the person to speak multiple languages that the person did not previously know. 

While this is a perfectly fine definition, I think there is another layer to this gift of tongue.  I think we all have a pretty good understanding of the power of the spoken word.   A phrase that I hear a lot in mainstream media and social media is “words matter”.   All words matter, not just the ones spoken by people in public office, or in ordained ministry, or in the news media.   Your words and my words have the power to build up and equally the power to tear down.  This gift of tongue that God has given us is only a gift if used for good.  I believe it becomes a curse when it is used to lie or to defame another. 

So, where does my focus have to be to stop me from using my words to put people in a negative light?   I believe I have to begin from the premise that every single person I meet is a beloved child of God.   But, before I can believe that about someone else, I need to believe it about myself.   I think I can safely say that for most of us, we are our own worst critics.   We seem to always be able to find something wrong when we look in a mirror.  Or when reliving a past discussion or disagreement, we can think of 10 different or better ways we would handle that if we had the chance to do it over again.  We can be so hard on ourselves and so, think it gives us license to be hard on others.

But, before we get too far down that rabbit hole, let’s have a look at what Jesus has to say about us in today’s Gospel.  Jesus begins by telling us that we are the “salt of the earth”.   And what does it mean to be “salt of the earth”.   According to a definition given in the Cambridge dictionary, it means you are very good, honest, and reasonable, and not thinking you are special in any way.  Those are the kind of people I like being around.   They make you feel accepted and welcome, and that time spent with you is time well spent. 

Jesus also tells us that we are the light of the world.  He doesn’t say that he is the light of the world.  He says that we are.  You, me, are light to more people than we could ever imagine.   I have spent enough time at funerals and have heard enough people talk about what a tremendous impact the deceased had on their life to know that our lives impact others.   How sad that most of the time we wait to say that to their remains. 

So, going forward, let’s challenge ourselves to never let an occasion to say something nice to, or about someone be missed.   If you have a good thought come to mind, even about a stranger, tell them.   It may be the only positive thing someone hears in the entire day. 

We are God’s children.  We are salt and light.  We are beloved.  Now that’s something worth talking about.

Mark Mahoney, Pastoral Associate
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity