Salt

What does it mean to be "The salt of the earth?"  I used to think that my spiritual life is supposed to flavor the world somehow.  But now I think that it means "Don't blend in."  Don't become part of a crowd.  Salt does not melt into anything it touches.  It is still salt, even as it flavors.  When I become part of the crowd I subject myself to some common denominator, and this is the slippery road to mediocrity.  I start to think, "If everyone is acting this way, then it must be OK."  "I am just one person.  I cannot do much outside the group."  "I feel safe in the group.  Past practice guides me."  The group tends to snuff out courage, martyrdom, and ultimately truth.  I suspect that if you look at religious institutions or spiritual paths that claim a founder you might very likely find that the founder never founded the institution that claims him or her.  Just because something is done for a very long time by a whole lot of people does not make it truth or right, or transforming.