Salvation And Bar-B-Q

Words have a way of morphing over time. When reading something from even as little as sixty or seventy years ago it really is necessary to have a period dictionary at hand to understand the authors prospective. Some words once in common usage seemingly disappearing or their meaning/application changing with time. Salvation is one of those words. Few, save those in the soul saving business, rarely use it. Many people if asked only relate to it in regards to those kettles manned by that army in the curious uniforms outside malls and stores at Christmas.To Wit:

Salvation : n

1.  act of saving from harm: the saving of somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure 
 2.  means of saving somebody or something: somebody or something that protects or delivers somebody or something else from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure
3.  Christianity: deliverance from sin through Jesus Christ: in the Christian religion, deliverance from sin or the consequences of sin through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross
  4.  Christian Science philosophy of life: in the Christian Science religion, belief in the supremacy of life, truth, and love, and in their destruction of such illusions as sin, illness, and death (Encarta)

Who hasn’t tried to employ the first definition with our children and those we love or the second with even strangers or new acquaintances by simply providing a phone number of a good mechanic or tax preparer. Every time you saved a lizard from the cat or stopped and waited for a mother duck and her brood to cross the road you engaged in an act of salvation. See, demonstrating salvation is not that hard. Sounds a lot more impressive when you can announce to the world you provided an act of salvation versus you let some baby ducks and their mom pass. On a more serious note when we embark on the new basis of living, the Spiritual Basis, salvation in demonstration becomes the norm, the very fabric of our existence.

But what of definitions three and four? These are issues left for you and your consciousness, your relationship with God. What is required of those Living on the Spiritual Basis is to remain open minded, even when we do not completely agree with a particular approach to a relationship with God, there is still much for us to learn. At the very least, take the time to place yourself in the others shoes and, whether you agree with them or not, look through their eyes, for never lose sight of the ultimate truth that they are children of the Most Divine just as you are. “Be quick to see were religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.”  This does not mean we have to buy the whole cow, but if we can remain open-minded, open to Divine inspiration and intuition, you may stumble across a wonderful cut of spiritual meat in the most unlikely of markets.