Salvation Isn't Rocket Science

Maybe Peter Pan was saying anything that came into his head because he couldn't fathom any child not having an imagination. To him it was as simple as, well, going there. I think Jesus felt the same way. Where is heaven? Don't over think it, "Second star to the right, and straight on till morning."

-- Tony Villari, The Path: "Second Star to the Right"

"No man comes to my Father but by me alone.”  Saith the Word in John 14:6, and yet, Christians, seemingly in contradiction, would seemingly be anchored to this scripture, their church elders or clergy, and the church itself.  Let's try to clarify this my way:  "...but by me alone."  This "Word" seems pretty clear and self-explanatory; there will be no overly interpreted scripture, no clergy, and no building (re: church) with overpriced statuary, stained glass windows, state of the art sound system and parking for 2000, and no filling the coffers (re: tithing) to pay the tab for any of it.  None of this will buy you salvation.  Salvation isn't this difficult, but these coffers of mainstream religion would dry up and the franchise managers (re: clergy) would be out of a job if people didn't believe they needed some other sinner (re: clergy... again) to intercede on their behalf.

Weren't our hearts and minds supposed to be filled with the holy spirit of the Word, so we wouldn't forget, or find the need to misinterpret, what was written; we were supposed to forever know God's law and we weren't supposed to require any assistance, other than parental, to understand what was expected of us.  God's law wasn't that difficult, it was based on good sense:  Do only good and worship your God.  Okay... define "good" and "worship."  By "define," of course, we mean to interpret?  And, thus, it begins again.

God gave us ten clues to guide us, ten "commandments" to follow, only ten.  How hard was this?  Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and Caesar has given us multiple interpretations killing of one's fellow man and coveting another's wife.  Is it felony theft or just shoplifting?  White, or blue-collar crime?  Do we honor our father and mother if they've run out and left the children in State care?  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  This confusion isn't God's fault.  God gave us the tools, on multiple occasions, to understand the simplicity of His Word, we are just really that dense, and so is Caesar.  God gave us 10 (ten) Commandments and, like the perpetually annoying creatures we are, we elaborated them into a 1500 page tome full of fine print which even folks with 20/20 vision need reading glasses to see.

Do you really want to know how to be good enough for your own salvation?  Don't be bad.  The Qur'an is about 500 pages, the Bible about 1400, and Hebrew writings I suppose would depend on which one.  The length of any Abrahamic scripture depends on versions and format.  But, what can man glean from these 2000 some odd combined pages of scripture?  Don't be bad.  Love your neighbor, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and give praise to your God.  Any interpretation is simply an attempt to say God made a mistake by not making it clear enough for the least of us to understand when, in fact, the least of us were the most important audience.  God makes mistakes?  I always look for lightening when someone intimates this, and I also take several steps away from the speaker, just in case.

What would we do without the written Word?  We could try having faith.  We might even try talking to God like God is actually our constantly guiding, ever tolerant, loving parent and disciplinarian; our omnipotent Father.  Use a little logic along with me, and ask yourself why a loving, omnipotent, force would make it so difficult for a simple people to understand otherwise simple instructions, that many followers would rather die the death of a thousand cuts than try to understand and fail due to a bad interpretation.  Wouldn't ten simple rules make much more sense?  And, wouldn't giving those rules the solid foundation based on loving others, loving God, and having faith seem more reasonable than basing them on 1900 pages, or more, of combine scripture opened to endless misinterpretation by faulty, flawed, egotistical, controlling humans?  

It's enough to make one's head explode.  The only way this kind of constant interpretation makes any sense is in government, where pages of rules and regulations are all part of dazzling us with bullshit to ensure control and obedience of the citizenry.  But God does not want this for us.  God, from the very beginning, gave us freedom of choice.  We can choose salvation, or we can choose not.  We can choose everlasting life, or we can choose not.  We can choose paradise, well... you get my drift.  You have the choice of good or evil, right or wrong.  How difficult can this be, and how difficult do you honestly think it was meant to be?  

We build beautiful cathedrals while the poor starve, and we dress up in our Sunday best so we can go to worship, and yet, according to Christianity's own "Holy" Scripture, Matthew 6:5-6, in particular, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."  Is it disheartening for the faithful when they realize their revered righteous, seem to knowingly practice hypocrisy?  And, if they don't know... well, why don't they?  Is it another case of "do as I say, not as I do" by the clergy elite?  I think a church shouldn't be construed as a place of worship but, rather, as a place of fellowship on the Sabbath.

I prefer to have faith in my loving God that made salvation an easy path.  I prefer to have faith that salvation is not, nor was ever meant to be, rocket science.  Whether you follow the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism, or the Ten Commandments of Christianity, the guidelines are basically the same and, well, pretty basic.  Salvation was never intended to be hard to attain, the difficulty was always within us.  We make it as hard as we want it to be, not God.  We can damn ourselves, not God.  If we fail we have only ourselves to blame, not God.  The easy tasks are those which truly separate the wheat from the chaff and the faithful from the not.

As in The Gospel of Thomas, I believe Jesus put us all to a test of faith, "Whoever finds the meaning of these words will not taste death."  And, since the time of Christ we have been struggling to see the forest for the trees.  What we seek is, and always has been, right in front of our eyes.  We have but to open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, and open our mouths to ask.  The truth has always been laid out before us.  It really isn't as hard as they would make you believe.  Have a little faith.

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.