Bread Philosophy

Have you ever made bread? I'll bet most of you have, but until yesterday I had never made regular bread before. I've made cinnamon rolls, and banana bread, and zucchini bread, but never regular white (or wheat) bread. I got a great recipe from a friend, and it wasn't hard at all! Actually, it was kind-of fun, and it went pretty quickly (it only has to rise 30 min). It came out of the oven, and it smelled wonderful, and it looked great! I cut a slice, and put a little butter on it, and took a bite... and immediately realized I had forgotten the salt. And, while the bread was okay without it... (we ate it with jam last night and it was pretty good, and made French toast with it this morning, and that was fine) ...it would have been much better if I had not left out the salt. And, that got me thinking...

A few months ago I taught a lesson in Primary where I had the children try to explain how salt tastes. The point was that it is sometimes very difficult to explain something you've experienced in words that someone else will understand who has never had that experience. If someone had never eaten bread before, and I gave them bread without salt as their first experience, what would they think of it? They wouldn't know that something was missing... How many people in the world are living their lives like bread without salt? They don't know that they are missing truths that would make such a huge difference in their lives. How many people don't know that they are a literal child of God? That He knows them personally, and loves them. That the priesthood has been restored to the earth, and there are prophets here now that have the authority to act and speak in God's name. That our families can be sealed to us, so that we can live with them forever! Those of us who do have those truths have an obligation to share that with others. If your neighbor knew about salt in bread, and you didn't, wouldn't you be upset (when you found out) if they never told you?

Another lesson, around that same time said, "...salt has been used for hundreds of years to flavor foods and preserve them from spoiling. Just as salt preserves food, our relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior is preserved when we obey their teachings and keep our covenants. As salt adds flavor to food, we can add goodness to the world by living righteously... Just as salt loses its savor (flavor) when it is weakened with impurities, what happens to us when we allow impurities (unclean thoughts, influences, and actions) into our lives?"

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from salt...

It also made me think of scripture study. It's really a very small thing to read and ponder your scriptures each day. A friend and I were talking recently. If you were to give a tithe of your time, you should spend almost 2 1/2 hours each day reading your scriptures, or doing something else the Lord would really want you to do. (Or, if you only count awake hours, that would be a little more than 90 min.) And yet, the most I have ever heard a prophet ask of us (that I can remember) is an hour a day. That's only 4% of your day. And, I've heard several times that as long as you are reading something every day, you are doing pretty good. I know I'm rambling a little bit, anyway, the point is, that it is not a big deal to read your scriptures every day. If you read 30 minutes a day (or even 15!) you will receive great blessings. (I think most of you have probably had some experience with this.) And, that really is such a small thing. Such a small amount of time in our day. Even when it is crazy busy! And, quite often that small thing means the difference between a frustrating day, and a day where you can handle whatever happens. Such a small thing that makes such a big difference.

Just like 1 tablespoon of salt.