keeper

We have often heard the colloquial phrase, “she’s a keeper” which is derived from “for keeps” - meaning worth having forever, in reference to a wife; however, I bet you haven’t heard of the Keeper of the Spring.

High along the Austian Alps lived a gentle forest man whose job was to clear twigs and debris from pools of water that ran into a spring that flowed into town. The youthful town council hired him and soon the village was popular because of the picturesque area, the clear water and irrigated farmlands. The keeper was faithful in removing unwanted branches and silt to make sure the water flowed clearly. And the years passed.

One evening, when the town council met to review the budget, one councillor didn’t like the salary being paid to the obscure keeper of the spring. He wanted to know: "Who he was? Why they kept him on year after year?” and they made a unanimous decision and voted to dispense of the old man’s services.

For weeks nothing changed, but by early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves, small branches fell into the pools and the flow of the water was hindered. The water turned from a slight yellowish-brown tint to a slimy film covering sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was detected. Some of millwheels even ground to a halt. Swans left and so did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

A special meeting was called by the council. It was there they realized their error and quickly hired back the old keeper of the spring . . . and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up.

Our world seems to be in a mess. Just as the keeper of the spring was crucial to the village; so too are Christians needed in our world. We are the “light” and “salt” and when we don’t clear the debris and junk from our own lives, the river gets murky. We are told to go and be the salt and light for others. Let’s bring the beauty and the light into a dark and ugly world.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:13-14