May 2020 WATERritual: You are the Salt of the Earth – WATER – Womens Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

May 2020 WATERritual

“You are the Salt of the Earth”

By Diann L. Neu, Techika Rhodes, and Laura Carr-Pries

Listen to the audio of our May 2020 WATERritual here.

Blessed are you when you use your healing powers.

Preparation
Sprinkle salt into one bowl. Have another bowl with water in it. Be ready to show these on our ZOOM call.

Welcome and Call to Gather
Tonight we gather for a healing ceremony. “You are the salt of the Earth” (Matt 5:13), the Scriptures remind us. How are you salt? What salty characteristics does your community need? What salty characteristics do you want to take on?

Like all of WATER’s efforts, our purpose tonight is for spiritual refreshment as well as social change. With the uncertainties generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, we need healing. Tonight, we will explore the healing story of salt, bless ourselves with salt water to cleanse and heal us, and bless the Earth for healing.

Story of Salt
From the dawn of time salt has been used as a seasoning, a preservative, and a link to the spirit world. Ancient people knew the amazing healing powers of salt and traded it ounce for ounce with gold. Salt is a symbol of hospitality. It has been used to protect against enemies, catastrophes, and evil spirits. Houses, altars, bells, and religious articles have traditionally been blessed with salt.

Salt is a symbol of rebirth, resurrection, reincarnation. Not surprisingly, the alchemical symbol for salt is the same as that for the water element: a line through a circle marking above and below sea level.

A “covenant of salt” is an indissoluble alliance between friends. Bread and salt create a binding commitment. “Salt of the Earth” suggests trustworthiness, wisdom, stability, and strength. Salt purifies; water washes clean. Salt and water combine in a miracle solution that electrifies cells and sustains human growth. Salt and water are both important elements for the body to function properly. The ocean and our tears are salt water.

A good cry or occasional sob during these tough times can be an expression of anger, grief, and solidarity. .Weeping is about everything happening in your life–and in all our lives. It can bring healing.

Centering Prayer
Sit calmly and quiet your mind.
Holy Wisdom, Healing Source, Justice Seeker, surround us with healing.
Pause and ponder quietly for a moment: “You are the Salt of the Earth.”

Our Tears during Covid-19 by Laura Carr-Pries
I weep for those who are facing death due to novel coronavirus –
Those who are dying alone
And the families who cannot sit at their side

I weep for the undocumented immigrant
Who is vilified in the media
And faces barriers to accessing healthcare during this crisis

I weep for the healthcare workers who are seeing death daily
Who are confronted by the injustices of a broken system
Yet provide compassion and care

I weep for essential workers
who cannot work from home, but can’t afford to not work
Yet are not fairly compensated for the work

I weep for those who are housing insecure or experiencing homelessness
Those who do not have the option to stay home

I weep for those whose home is unsafe
Victims and survivors for domestic, sexual, and child abuse

I weep for those who are alone
Who don’t have access to technology
And who are far from their loved ones

I weep for the impact of white supremacy
that this virus is exacerbating inequality
And African American people are disproportionately affected

May we taste the saltiness of our tears
As we lament injustice and inequity
Remembering that we cannot rest in pain
Let our tears move us into action.

Blessing Salt Water
Hold the bowl of salt in your left hand, as we pray:
Blessed are you, Healing Source, Justice Seeker, Great Purifier,
for you bring forth salt from the Earth.

Hold the bowl of water in your right hand, as we pray:
Blessed are you, Womb of Life, Ocean Wave, Holy Water,
for you hold and maintain everything by your powers.

Add the salt to the water, as we pray:
Blessed are you, Salt-Water, Spirit-Body, Purifier-Cleanser,
for you renew the whole of our beings and all of creation.

Pause and ponder quietly for a moment: “You are the Salt of the Earth.”

Song: “Salt of the Earth” by Bettye LaVette from the album Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMdcueXKD-U
I wanna drink to the hard-working people
Let’s drink, to the lowly of birth
I wanna raise my glass to the good and the evil
Let’s drink, to the salt of the earth.

Say a prayer for our hard-fighting soldiers
Give some thought to their life-risking work
How bout’ a prayer, for their spouses and children
They keep the home fires burning and still till the earth.

When I search a faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray, black and white
They don’t look real to me
In fact, they look so strange.

Raise your glass, to the hard-working people
Let’s drink, to the uncounted heads
I wanna make a toast to the wavering millions
We need leaders but get gamblers instead.

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
Whose empty eyes gaze at reality shows
And a stream of gray suited grafters
Give you a choice of cancer, HIV or who knows. (Oh)

(Oooh) And when I look into the faceless crowd (Oooh)
Swirling mass of grays, black and white
They don’t even look real to me (Ooohh)
In fact, they look so strange.

(Let’s drink) Raise your glass to the hard-working people
(Let’s think) Let’s drink to the salt of the earth
(Let’s toast) I wanna give a toast to the millions of people
Those who are born humble of birth.

(Let’s drink) Let’s drink to the hard-working people
(Let’s think) Let’s think about the lowly of birth
(Let’s toast) Spare some kind of thought for all homeless people
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth.

Songwriters: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger
Salt of The Earth lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc

Reflect | Meditate
Hold the bowl of salt water. Imagine that salt water is cleansing every part of your body, every part of your being. Pause.

Imagine that salt water is rejuvenating you and Earth. See the salt water healing those with Covid-19, those who are grieving, and communities that are disproportionately affected by this global pandemic. Send this healing energy to doctors, nurses, medical staff, and first responders. Comfort the families of those who are dying and be with those who are dying without their families. Pause.

Touch the salt water. How are you salt? What salty characteristics does your community need? What salty characteristics do you want to take on?

Pause and ponder quietly for a moment: “You are the Salt of the Earth.”

Blessing with Salt Water
Reader: Dip your hands into the salt water and bless yourself.
Blessed are you when you use your healing powers.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you free yourself of negative energy.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you are full of life, vigor, and zest.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you do good works.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you share love, mercy, and justice with those who are pushed to the margins, especially women.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you offer hospitality.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you believe in miracles.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Reader: Blessed are you when you share your resources and your wisdom.
You are the Salt of the Earth.

Prayers of the People
Who needs our prayers tonight? Tell us and we will respond: Divine Healer, hear our prayer.

Closing Prayer
Holy Wisdom, Healing Source, Justice Seeker, thank you for surrounding us with healing. Send us forth to live as the Salt of the Earth, especially during this Covid-19 time.

Take Action
• Soak your body in salt water in a bathtub with sea salts added.
• Make a list of people that you want to hold in the light, send healing energy to, and pray for.
• Bake a loaf of salt rising-bread. https://marysnest.com/salt-rising-bread/ https://www.wvpublic.org/post/how-bake-bread-appalachias-ancestors#stream/0
• Imagine what you can do post pandemic to help people heal and to make the world a more equitable and safer place for everyone.

Song: “Standing on the Shoulders” by Joyce Johnson Rouse, sung by Earth Mama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjKXuceRYQ

I am standing on the shoulders, of the ones who came before me
I am stronger for their courage, I am wiser for their words
I am lifted by their longing, for a fair and brighter future
I am grateful for their vision, for their toiling on this Earth

We are standing on the shoulders, of the ones who came before us
They are saints and they are humans, they are angels, they are friends
We can see beyond the struggles, and the troubles and the challenge
When we know that by our efforts, things will be better in the end

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn’t tried
We wouldn’t be here celebrating today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me
I am honored by their passion, for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold the ones who follow me

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn’t tried
We wouldn’t be so very blessed today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold, the ones who follow me

Mission

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