Describe an experience when God's love brought you as close to others as a vine and its branches. Sometimes we are embarrassed by our instincts of love and compassion. So, we hide our feeling and hang tough. Jesus teaches us that to hide the Divine part of our nature is to risk losing it. Describe an experience when you have hidden your feeling of love and compassion for God and others.
Salt is both a sharp tasting spice and a vital ingredient for life.
Describe an experience when your expression of God's love was like salt. It is obvious to the world that a fundamental value is to keep alive. We struggle mightily for ourselves and our loved ones to avoid death. Thus, when Jesus accepts death at the hands of others, it seems strange to us. When Jesus also teaches us that to save our own life is to lose it, we are even more perplexed.