When, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of his audience as “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), he was obviously paying them a high compliment. Salt preserves; it also adds taste and flavor. Even today, being called “the salt of the earth” is frequently a good thing—but not always. Let’s start by accentuating the positive: “I don’t mean to name drop,” confides a columnist for The Irish Sun, “but I have interviewed Angelina Jolie three times now.” The reporter’s verdict, as displayed in the feature’s title: “Angelina Is Salt of the Earth.” Elsewhere in the starry […]
