The Cosmetic for the Soul
Mark ix. 49 v. “Every one shall be salted with fire.”
To be salted is to be. preserved — kept young. How to keep young, is a great problem. Oar Lord says that the soul needs an opposite cosmetic from the body. The cosmetic for the body is to take care of one’s self, to keep out of danger, to avoid the path of trouble. But the cosmetic for the soul is to take no care of one’s self, to seek the danger of another, to court the path of trouble. Christ gives youth as He gives peace — in a manner different from that of the world. He makes us little children by laying His hands upon us, by giving us a new weight — the weight of love. It is not by the heart’s lightness but by the heart’s pressure that He makes us young. My body groans beneath its burden; but my spirit groans when it has no burden. There is no weariness to my spirit like the absence of care. The oldest heart is the fetterless heart. If it be not in bonds, it is in decrepitude. Its youth only comes when its chain comes. Like the men of ancient Babylon, it only ceases to be hurt when it passes through the furnace. It is the true Phoenix- Bird; it rises out of its own ashes. It is born again from the altar of sacrifice. It is renewed by the flame that consumes it. It is salted with fire.
Preserve me, oh Lord; keep me young. Thou hast an elixir that makes fair for ever; its name is love. It makes fair by strange methods; when I have tasted it, I shall be on fire. Martyrs have passed through the flames to life eternal — life that never grows old. Men tell me the need has passed away with the days of persecution; teach me it is not so. Teach me that the only persecutor of my youth is the spirit of selfishness. Teach me that the Herod who would kill the young child within me is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Teach me that the road to life eternal is still through the fire. Teach me that if I would be kept young, it must be through the cares of love. Redeem me from old age by the blood of Thy Cross. Restore my morning by the setting of my own sun. Bring back my spring-time by the burial of my selfish seed. Renew my childhood by an entrance into other lives. My heart can only be preserved by sacrifice; it shall resume its youth in Thy everlasting fire.