Eat Salt Together

I titled my talk to a men’s group, “Eating Salt Together: How Men Become Friends.” I got the idea from Aristotle, who said,

“Friendship requires time and familiarity, men cannot know each other till they have ‘eaten salt together’ until each has been found loving and trusted by each other.”

“Eating salt together” means people have gone through hard times, they have linked arms, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in battle. Camaraderie, trust, honesty, reliability, and forthrightness are the result of shared work, shared suffering, and a shared life. Sometimes that life requires prayers, texts, emails, and phone calls at 3 a.m.

Take a moment to reflect on your friends and the kind of friend you are. Revel in and smile at the memories and rejoice in having friends who Proverbs says, may be closer than a blood relative. Be glad that you have friends who have eaten salt with you.

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Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.

[From Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 8, chapter 3, section 8; Proverbs 18:24]

“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth. [First published at MarkEckel.com]

Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.

Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.