Most likely, everyone
will enjoy salvation

Speaking of Religion
The Rev. Dr. Tim Griffin

What is a merciful heart? It is the heart’s burning for all of creation; for human beings, for birds, for animals and even for demons. At the remembrance and at the sight of them, the merciful person’s eyes fill with tears which arise from the great compassion that urges the heart. It grows tender and cannot endure hearing or seeing any injury or slight sorrow to anything in creation. Because of this, such a person continually offers tearful prayer even for irrational animals and for the enemies of truth and for all who harm it, that they may be guarded and forgiven. — St. Isaac of Nineveh

I sometimes hear or read remarks by my fellow Christians about salvation. I confess that I am often suspicious of such talk. The reason for my suspicion is not the notion of salvation per se.
I believe that God loves us and that God desires our life rather than our death. My suspicion is rather with the kind of spiritual materialism that is at the bottom of so much of the talk about salvation.
Salvation, for many, is just another one of those things to be possessed. "I have a home, a car, a boat, and, oh yes, eternal life."
And as if that is not bad enough, salvation is sometimes represented as a type of club to which the "select" people belong. The question "Are you saved?" is an instance of this type of thinking. I have never known how to answer this question. I think I am saved — at least I hope so.
But by the same token, I am fairly certain that what I mean by "salvation" is significantly different from what one who would ask this question means by it. That is because, by implication, those who ask "Are you saved?" are certain that there are a host of others who are not "saved." There is a smugness about such attitudes that is just contrary to the way of life that Jesus brought to us.
In contrast, I find St. Isaac’s reflections on the merciful heart, cited above, more in keeping with the kind of salvation one finds in the teachings of Jesus. For Isaac, a merciful heart is one that has compassion for the entire created order — even for demons and the enemies of truth; even for one’s own enemies. Consider that.
This is a truly open, compassionate and merciful heart. I have no doubt that St. Isaac is speaking of his own experience, i.e., speaking of his own merciful heart. And we could expand this list to include Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others I am sure.
But if human beings like St. Isaac and others have received the grace of such a merciful heart, then what are we to say of God? If there are among us those with such merciful hearts, can God’s heart be any less merciful? And if not, then is it not likely that all may be saved by God’s grace and mercy?
Of course such an idea scandalizes our sense of retributive justice. We want those who have acted wrongly, and especially those who have harmed us, to suffer. I understand those feelings because I have them too.
However, I believe if we reflect on those feelings and desires we realize that they do not represent that part of us that is closest to God. And let us be honest. What we often refer to as retributive justice is really nothing more than a desire for vengeance. Surely such desires do not bring us nearer to the God who is love according to St. John the Evangelist.
So are all saved? I do not know. That is certainly not up to me, and given the forgiving and merciful nature of God, I believe, as I noted above, that God desires that we all live. But God has created us with a freedom that makes it possible for us to reject God’s offering of forgiveness and love, and to reject God.
Still I see no reason to suppose that death represents our final chance. Isn’t it at least possible, if not likely, that we have all eternity to repent and turn to God?
In the meantime, doesn’t it make sense for us to stop wondering who is and who is not saved and spend our time instead seeking, with God’s grace, for a merciful heart? ••
Father Tim Griffin is priest-in-charge at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, at 1946 Welsh Road in Bustleton.