We know we are saved when we keep ourselves awake by an infinite expectation of the dawn, when we are encouraged to elevate our lives by our own conscious endeavor, when we respond with sympathy and by action to the needs of others. We know we are saved when we can still weep over cruelty and cry against injustice, when we can make an otherwise drab life more beautiful, warm with joy. We know we are saved when we have learned to live simply, without the paraphernalia that hide the depth of life, and honestly, without blame and excuses. We know we are saved when we have offered our imperfect gifts generously to the improvement and perfection of all life, to all creatures and to the earth itself. We know we are saved when we can say, and really mean it, that we can leave this life better than we found it, and when one other can say of us that we have striven well and will be fondly remembered.
Salvation is a process, the ongoing process of becoming.
It's a lifetime work, never done. It's a striving. You can tell who the saved ones are. They are the ones who never stop working for the good, who always keep loving, who try always to give the best of themselves, and who most of all are never stingy with the gift of Life. Salvation is a dynamic process and it is the aim and business of our religion.