One About Jesus (Before I Get To What I'm Really Supposed to Be Writing)

I'm here to discuss salvation. Yours, mine, ours. Along the way, I am going to peruse a certain misinterpretation of a certain word. Or maybe it's a certain phrase? Hmm... We'll see once I get going. Not too long ago, I changed my religious/spiritual affiliation to "Seeker". I used to proudly and vociferously call myself "Non-Christian". It's not that I didn't believe in Jesus per se. I did, just not enough or traditionally enough to consider myself a Christian. Plus, I met so many dumb asses, fuck nuts, and assorted assholes who claimed to be Christian that it put a bad taste in my mouth. I most certainly did NOT want to be lumped in with all of them; guilt by association being what it is. I was left with a spirituality that was Godly (in my opinion) yet pretty much resided somewhere beyond left field. While I never sacrificed goats, nor virgins, many often looked at me as if I did. You see, people in the places I have lived - both the Southern and Northern Bible Belts - can't quite condone a spirituality that doesn't include the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's savior. Ah, salvation... Gotta love it.

I always accepted myself as my own savior. I thought it quite progressive because it put the responsibility for my life, death, and after life firmly on my shoulders. There was right. There was wrong. And I was responsible. In my early years I equated 'doing right' with going to Heaven and 'doing wrong' with going to Hell. As I aged and my spirituality matured, I determined that Heaven and Hell were both bunk. It's all about what you accomplish in this life and the lessons that you learn that determine "What's Next". Everyone gets another chance whether they sink or swim, pass or fail. The next life (what I formerly may have called Heaven) is another chance to do more right and less wrong. The ultimate goal is to achieve God-like status and remain in God's presence for all eternity.

All this rests firmly within, not without. Accept Jesus as much and as loudly as you want, attend Church, read the Bible, get baptized, confess, get 'saved' a zillion times, tithe half your gross pay - it won't make a damn bit of difference. The crazy thing (to Christians, not to me) is that Jesus got this. He understood. He encouraged his followers to live a life filled with love for the self and for others. He knew that love was the key to everything - to peace, to all the lessons in life. By this, by these actions, by a life filled with love, one would be saved. Jesus didn't die for our sins or so that we could be saved. Not directly anyway. Jesus died to spread The Word, The Way. Love one, love all and you shall be saved. It's an easy concept, yet one that the early Christians, Middle Age Christians, and modern age Christians bastardized over and over again until it is nearly unrecognizable.

The bottom line is that Jesus didn't save, doesn't save, and probably won't in the future. However, his words and his ideas can. If we could put aside all of our agendas, the religiously constructed fear of the Apocalypse, and our insistence that we are right and THEY are wrong, we would see this quite clearly. What would Jesus bomb? Who would Jesus kill? Who would Jesus maim? Who would Jesus look at funny? In his name? In God's name? NOTHING. NO ONE. NO ONE. And NO ONE. Jesus loved and hoped only that we would love and by so doing save ourselves. In case you're keeping score with the other major religions, Jesus' message wasn't all that different from any other spiritual prophet. We are truly all one, if we would choose love over hate.

This is my salvation. I have love in my heart and in my soul. I do not hate. I seek love and a spirituality that encourages love for all. Therefore,I am a "Seeker". I accept Jesus as my friend and as one of my favorite scholars. He had it right. He saved himself. This life, my life, is on me. I will live his words (because they are the right way to live) and discover my salvation. I will pass through this life, move onto 'What's Next', and find myself one step closer to an eternity spent with God.

I guess the question remains - who are you relying for your salvation? Just an idea, but you might want to look in the mirror. And the next time you look at me funny, remember what Jesus would do. Jesus would love me. You might want to try that, too.