Salty Returns

June 27, 2011 by Monica Coleman

Continued from Page 1

While I admire the faith of moving forward, I find it hard to believe that God condemns those who look back.

Perhaps, as Rev. Connie Tuttle of Circle of Grace Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia once suggested, Lot's wife was honored for her humanity, rather than punished. After all, salt was a commodity in the ancient world. It was necessary for preservation, flavor, sacrifices, and healing wounds. It was rare.

Perhaps the story of Lot's wife is a monument. Perhaps the pillar of salt is a testimony to the fact that sometimes a place calls your attention home.

Difficult economic times are often cause for great transition. But I suspect something more is happening here when the New York Times quotes recently relocated Danitta Ross as saying "the south—not New York—is now home." Perhaps these salty returns to the south are testimonies to the sacrality of place. Perhaps they affirm that God can call you forward and God can also call you home.

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6/27/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About Monica Coleman

Monica A. Coleman is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions and Co-Director for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University. An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Coleman has earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University.

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