Stay Salty. Be Bright. Finding Your Place in the Kingdom Right Here in Del Mar

On the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Mother Paige stood in the pulpit at St. Peter’s and offered a phrase our kids brought home from Camp Stevens: “Stay salty. Be bright.”

It’s playful. Memorable. Almost bumper-sticker simple.

But underneath it is something deeply serious—and deeply hopeful—for anyone in Del Mar wondering where they fit, how to make a difference, or whether the church still has something real to say about the world we’re living in.

What Does “Stay Salty” Even Mean?

To understand it, Mother Paige took us back to the beginning of Jesus’ most famous sermon: the Sermon on the Mount.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are those who mourn.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are the peacemakers.”

This is Jesus’ opening vision of what the kingdom of heaven looks like. Not domination. Not perfection. Not having the right doctrine or winning the argument.

Righteousness, as Mother Paige reminded us, is not about lording over someone else or getting everything exactly right. It’s alignment with the very heart of God. It’s heart work, not head work. It’s about love.

And in a time when so much public life feels loud, divided, and sharp-edged, these words land differently. We don’t just need better opinions. We need mercy. We need peacemakers. We need people who hunger and thirst for a world aligned with God’s heart.

We need the Beatitudes.

You Already Are Salt

Then Jesus says something striking: “You are the salt of the earth.”

Not “try harder.”
Not “someday you could be.”
Not “if you get it together.”

You are.

In the first century, salt wasn’t quaint. It was precious. Valuable. Essential. People were even paid in it—our word salary comes from salt. To call someone “salt of the earth” wasn’t to call them humble and homespun. It was to say: you are of incredible worth.

And here’s the kicker: salt can’t stop being salt. It can dissolve, sure—but it doesn’t lose its nature. It remains what it is.

In the same way, you already carry something of God’s goodness in you. The question isn’t whether you’re worthy. The question is whether you’re living into what you already are.

Let Your Light Shine (For Real Reasons)

Jesus keeps going: “You are the light of the world.”

And he gets a little funny about it. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. That would set the basket on fire. The absurdity is the point.

Your light isn’t meant to be hidden.

But notice why: not so others will admire your theology or your perfectly curated life. Not so they’ll adopt your opinions.

“So that they may see your good works and give glory to God.”

Not your good thoughts.
Not your hot takes.
Your good works.

The tangible good you do in the world.

Churchy Stuff Isn’t Enough

Mother Paige paired this Gospel with a passage from Isaiah—the one many of us hear on Ash Wednesday. It’s the prophet’s blunt reminder that God isn’t impressed with beautiful rituals if they’re disconnected from justice.

You can do all the churchy things.
You can sing the hymns.
You can make it look beautiful.

But if you walk out the doors and ignore the hungry, the oppressed, the vulnerable—it misses the point.

The fast God chooses, Isaiah says, is the loosening of burdens, the feeding of the hungry, the liberation of the oppressed.

In other words: being salt and light isn’t aesthetic. It’s active.

Why This Matters in Del Mar

If you live in Del Mar or the surrounding communities, you know we’re surrounded by beauty—coastline, sunshine, incredible neighborhoods. But even here, there is loneliness. There is grief. There are families quietly struggling. There are divisions and injustices that ripple outward from the wider world.

This world—our little corner of it included—needs merciful people. Peacemakers. People willing to align their hearts with God’s heart and actually do something about it.

And here’s the part that might surprise you: Mother Paige didn’t give us a to-do list.

She didn’t tell us exactly how to “stay salty and be bright.”

Because your way won’t look exactly like someone else’s.

You have been called into this time and this place. Your particular gifts. Your personality. Your questions. Your longings. Your experiences. They matter.

The world needs your salt.
Your light.
In the way only you can bring it.

Conclusion

At St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Del Mar, we gather at the altar not to escape the world, but to be nourished for it. We pray that the Spirit will enlighten our hearts, help us understand our own blessedness, and send us out to incarnate the Beatitudes in real life.

To bring blessing into the world.
To be our beautifully salty selves.
To let our light shine.

If you’re searching for a community that cares less about having it all figured out and more about living love in tangible ways, there’s space for you here.

The world needs you.
God needs you.
Jesus loves you.

So stay salty. Be bright. And if you’re in Del Mar, come pay us a visit. We’d love to meet you.