I cannot be alone in being amused by all the scandal surrounding the revelation that not all the ‘facts’ in the ‘true story’ set out in ‘The Salt Path’ are quite as factual and true as was thought originally. It is said that there is fabrication at the heart of Raynor Winn’s memoir. Of course it is wrong to describe as memoir a work of fiction and, if as is alleged, Raynor Winn had also embezzled money from an employer that cannot be condoned.
As a lover of the cliffs and paths of the Southwest I can imagine there being something of a blurring of the lines between fact and fiction as a writer looks out over the Atlantic, feels the wind and mizzle in their face and breathes the salty air. It is easy to get carried away somewhere between reality and ‘never-land.’
Today’s reading is Acts 18:1-16. Saint Paul arrives in Corinth and meets fellow tent-makers Aquila and Priscilla with whom he works while continuing to preach. Inevitably the Jews there kicked off, God encouraged Paul to keep preaching anyway and he was brought before the proconsul. Gallio, the Proconsul, dismissed the objections before Paul even opened his mouth to defend himself: ‘If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanour or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law – settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.’
The Salt Path scandal, as it may be described, is about the tussle between words and serious crime. It is never right to mislead people nor is it appropriate to make money falsely but the rest is about words. Imagine the wind the damp salt spray in your face and remember that God and his creation are permanent and much else is only words.
A prayer
God, give me perspective to worry over what really matters, to separate right from wrong but to have the grace to forgive those who slip the wrong side of the line. Give me a conscience to never knowingly mislead anyone but the humility to put into proportion those moments when I think I have been misled. I ask, for the sake of Jesus, encourager of forgiveness and source of salvation. Amen.