Universal Salvation and Love

I have written a great deal about my faith in the love of the Creator, and my certainty that all things will be brought back to the Creator before the end of time. This, for me, is a doctrine of Universal Salvation; a personal dogma that God did not create anything that cannot be redeemed. There is, ultimately, nothing to be “saved” from except ourselves, and love will eventually do that for each and every one of us.

Many will ask of me, and have done so already, “If no one goes to hell, then why bother being a good person?” First, let me say that I never said that no one goes to hell. I am certain that there is some amount of spiritual catharsis and cleansing that a soul must go through, to acknowledge the points at which we closed ourselves off from love, and in which we failed to be loving. I am certain that I will have to face those demons before I am ready to be loved, as it is in all relationships here on Earth. I simply refuse to believe that this is so much punishment from God as it is the consequence of reconciling our past with the revelations of perfect love. Second, let me say that I don’t feel inclined to do bad things, and that is who I am without the threat of eternal damnation. The fact is that I feel like it is my duty to be a good person, because I know that there is love. I know that there is suffering in the world because people don’t feel loved or valued, and that I can be a part of changing that. I don’t need to be threatened into being a good person, because I believe in a perfect love that I am meant to emulate. I don’t think that a vengeful and sadistic deity would inspire that same kind of universal love, and I can see why such belief would need threats to keep people from emulating the wrath and pettiness that so many seem to ascribe to their creator.

I feel like I am part of all creation. I am not just a man, striving for my own soul in a battle against damnation. I am one with all creation, trying to understand the universe we’ve been given and how to live as a healthy part of it. That, to me, is reason enough to be good. It is a reason to be good to people I don’t know personally, and it is a reason to be good to the other plants and animals that share the Earth, having been brought about as part of a single creation and all of them being loved by the same Creator that I am. The belief in Universal Salvation leads me to want universal love and acceptance here and now, just as people who believe in a hateful and vengeful God seem to want to create hate and anger here on Earth. I think that my faith in love is a more powerful force for good than any distant and, frankly, inconceivable punishment could be. I mean, who really has a concept of what “eternity” is, anyway?

I don’t need to be threatened. I don’t need to be afraid of doing bad things. I don’t want to do bad things, because I believe in goodness and love. I try to be a good person, because I believe that is what I was born to. It isn’t hard, and I am far from perfect, but no amount of fear could inspire me in the same way that love has.