Salvation

For the past few days Jami Lula’s song, “Something’s Calling Me,” has been running through my head. 

Something’s calling me
A little bit deeper than I’ve
Ever been before

Spirit gently wakes me from my sleep

Could it be that something is calling me? Could it be that something is calling you? Could it be the same “something” calling us? Yes. It is our true nature calling us to a place of remembrance. It is the voice of the Divine at the center of our hearts calling us to let go of limited concepts of ourselves and accept who we truly are. It is saying, “Wake up. Wake up. Wake Up!” 

I am convinced that whether or not we are conscious of it, our deepest desire is to awaken to our true nature; to know ourselves as the Divine; to live in conscious awareness of the One Power and One Presence expressing in, through and as us. 

Some Eastern spiritual traditions place a great deal of emphasis on what is commonly known as “awakening” or “enlightenment.” In the traditional Christian tradition “salvation” is the focus.

Growing up in the Baptist tradition, I believed that “salvation” was an event, a conscious decision born of an internal conviction of our sinful nature and our need to accept Jesus as a personal savior. I learned the “once saved always saved” doctrine. This means that once you accept Jesus you are “saved.” Although, of course, you can “backslide” and revert to your sinful ways. The moniker “born again Christian” is used to identify one who has made a “decision for Christ.”

I have spent some time pondering the ideas of “salvation” and “enlightenment” this week. Specifically, I have contemplated the words of Jesuit priest and teacher, Anthony de Mello, who said,

“Enlightenment is absolute cooperation with the inevitable…and the only thing that is inevitable is what is happening in the moment.”

I interpret that to mean that enlightenment is not necessarily a state of consciousness one attains and then maintains. Rather, it is a conscious choice to be present with whatever life presents in any moment. “Absolute cooperation” is a state of allowing everything to be just as it is and experiencing it fully without resistance or attachment. Enlightenment happens moment-by-moment as we make a conscious decision to be fully awake and present in the moment. I hold that Spirit is constantly “calling” us to be awake and present so that we are able to be the presence of Love in every situation.

Salvation, like enlightenment, also happens one moment at a time. It is not, as I was taught, something that happens once or as a condition of good behavior. We are “saved” from our limiting, and often damning concepts of ourselves, others and the world, each time we awaken to our Christ nature and make the choice to see all as the Christ in expression.

We are “born again” in each moment that we awaken to the fullness of Life expressing in and as all that we encounter. We are “born again” when we are willing to see ourselves, others and the world around us through the eyes of Spirit as perfect, whole and complete.

The master teacher Jesus said,

“The kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the Earth, yet men do not see it.” – Gospel of Thomas, Saying 113¹

 “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 3:2

In the moment we accept that the kingdom of heaven is here and now present, and choose to see it reflected to us in all that we perceive, we are truly “saved” from the illusion of separation. We are “born again” to a new way of greeting the world.

We can choose to greet every moment from an “enlightened” consciousness of “absolute cooperation.”

I encourage us all to listen to Spirit calling us to a deeper, broader and more complete understanding and acceptance of the truth of who we are. When we truly know that truth, we are awakened and we are set free. In that way each of us can receive “salvation” and be “born again.”

Come have your own experience of “salvation.”Join us on Sunday for our 10:00 service as we welcome special guest artist Gary Lynn Floyd.

¹ The Gospel of Thomas English Translation