A Woman of Salt: Part One

I am a woman of salt.
My name is Sarah - the woman who laughs:
"Shall I indeed have pleasure and bear a child now that I am old?"
Upon me rests the blessing of salt:
"She shall give rise to nations, kings and queens of peoples shall come from her."
I am the woman of salty tongue.
"Get that other woman gone."
Sometimes my salt blisters.

I am a woman of salt.
My name is Hagar, my tears are full of salt.
"God, my God, is a God-Who-Sees"
through my tears, through my fears, through my trials.
I lift up my voice and weep salty tears.
"What troubles you Hagar? Do not be afraid....
Come, lift up the lad and hold him fast with your hand
And I will make of him a great nation."
God opened my eyes
And now I see a well of living water through the salt of my tears.

I am a woman of salt.
My name is Leah - the unloved.
Yet,
"The Lord has looked on my affliction" and given me a son, Reuben.
"The Lord has heard that I am hated" and I have a son, Simeon.
"Now my husband will be joined to me" for I have a son, Levi.
"This time I will praise the Lord" for my son, Judah.
"Good fortune!" again a son, Gad.
"Happy am I!" with a son, Asher.
"God has given me my hire" and a son, Issachar.
"God has endowed me with a good dowry" and my son, Zebulun.
And, now finally, a daughter, Dinah.
The salt of the waters of life has healed the hurt in my heart.
Now I am honoured in the building up of the house of Israel, the house of the Lord.

I am a woman of salt.
My name is Lot's wife.
You may remember me.
I am a pillar of the house of Israel, a pillar of the church.
I stand looking back, wistful and sad.
I am a woman locked up within my burning fears and drowned hopes.
My salt is the salt of bitterness.
But it is with bitter herbs and unleavened bread that Passover is remembered.
Remember me.
I am the salt of memory.

We are women of salt.
Women of the covenant,
Women of blessing.
Help us, Lord, to be salt in this world.
Salt full of flavour, full of healing,
Salt fit to use.

© 1995 Charlene Elizabeth Fairchild

I am a woman of blood, of life.
Ancient memories course through my veins.

I am a woman of light and shadows,
silhouettes and starbursts, sunny smiles and fleeting frowns.
I am a woman of dark.
Night calls to me yet repels my very soul.

I am a woman of stones, of mountains and majesty,
of precious jewels and ancient fossils.
I see beauty in a lump of coal and stories of the universe in granite.

I am a woman of passion, of lust and love, of agony and hate.
He who made me, made me whole.

I am a woman of warp and woof,
bright strands of colour and unbleached wool.
I weave memories both light and dark.
I capture moments that touch the heart.

I am a woman of word and song.
I am a woman of memory.
I capture stories and paint emotions.
Music, wild and full of fury, speaks deep inside,
fans the faint embers, stirs the ashes,
makes the flame burn bright.
I am a woman of salt.

© 1995 Charlene Elizabeth Fairchild