Cover the Earth in Salt
According to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, "there's about 50 quintillion kilograms (the number 50 with 18 zeros after it) of salt in the ocean."
Further:
You may know that the oceans cover about 70 percent of the of Earth's surface, and that about 97 percent of all water on and in the Earth is saline—there's a lot of salty water on our planet. By some estimates, if the salt in the ocean could be removed and spread evenly over the Earth's land surface it would form a layer more than 500 feet (166 meters) thick, about the height of a 40-story office building (Source: NOAA).
That's a LOT of salt!
Salt is such an amazing mineral, with so many useful benefits and purposes — everything from flavoring to healing and cleansing to preserving. Some say there are up to thousands of uses. No wonder the Bible uses it as such a powerful metaphore, with God Himself calling us to be the salt of the earth.
We are to season the world around us with the flavor and essence of His love and grace. We are help to heal the wounds of the brokenhearted. We are to teach others of how they can find cleansing for their soiled, sinful hearts. We are to preserve that which is right and true and holy.
Yet, as we look around, there is so little salt being spread across the expanse of the human condition. Why should the salt of the sea eclipse the depth of our own salty influence over the world around us?
Christians, let us cover the earth with the saltiness of the Gospel message. Let us bury this planet under the influence of God's love and grace, 500 feet deep and even more!
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet" (Matthew 5:13, ESV).
"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person" (Colossians 4:6, ESV).
The Most Boring Day in History?
Ask almost any question -- pick one, any question -- and the internet will likey have an answer for you. Case in point, some curiosity seeker asked the question, "Why is April 11, 1954 the most boring day in History?"
Good question. And the online answer gurus at wonderoplolis.org have an answer:
Imagine turning on the T.V., flipping to your favorite news channel, and giving the anchor your rapt attention, only to find that the day’s news was . . . nothing.
Can that happen? Can any day be that boring? According to computer programmer William Tunstall-Pedoe, yes, it can. And he’s even identified that incredibly boring day: April 11, 1954.
In 2010, Tunstall-Pedoe set out to identify the most boring day in history—or, at least, the most boring day in the 20th century. He used a search engine that he invented, called True Knowledge. The engine contained over 300 million individual facts.
Using an algorithm to scan through each day in the 20th century, Tunstall-Pedoe discovered that nothing of note happened on April 11, 1954. That is, unless you’re Turkish engineering professor Abdullah Atalar, who was born that day. An athlete named Jack Shufflebotham of England also passed away. No other well-known people were born or died.
There also don’t seem to be any noteworthy news stories from around the world. No major events from the stock market, sporting events, or NASA. No major films were even released that day.
But maybe Tunstall-Pedoe is wrong. Maybe other search sources found some newsworthy items from that day. But, sadly, no ...
"Perhaps it was, indeed, the most boring day in history," reports wonderopolis (or at least the most boring day of the 20th Century).
Yet, that said, they suggest there is another contender for the dubious title: April 18. 1930 ...
On April 18, 1930, people across England tuned their radios to the BBC for the evening news. The report? “There is no news,” read the announcer. 15 minutes of piano music followed the report.
Wonderopolis concludes:
Have you ever had a boring day? Everyone does from time to time. But it seems that some days are boring for the entire world!
But are they right? Is there really any such thing as an utterly boring, unnotworthy day? Certainly in light of God's Kingdom, creation, and calling, there is no such thing as an unnoteworthy day.
Each day is filled with purpose. Divine purpose. Divine opportunity to make a noteworthy impact. Each day is filled with a thousand little things that just might escape our notice if we are not fine-tuned, not to a news station, but fine-tuned into the heart of God.
We can be a part of making the news. In fact, we are created to be a part of making the news, of spreading the news! As we little by little impact the lives of the people, communities, and institutions around us, we are building a story -- a story for the ages!
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV).
Working Together
Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them stick together, they can stop traffic.
Likewise, by God's design, the lone Christian has little impact on the world. But when two or three are gathered together, that's when Christ's presence is felt (Matthew 18:20). When the diverse gifts of the individual members of a local church begin operating cooperatively, that's when impactful ministry takes place (1Corinthians 12:12).
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many" (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).