The following is Part 1 of a series drawn from an interview with Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity on September 9th, 2021. It has been edited for length and focus.
Do your beliefs include that you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior in order to go to heaven; and, in the end, those who do not accept Christ, no matter how much good they have done on earth, will go to hell?
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your question. I experience the Universe as a single non-dual event that we now know has expanded over 13.8 billion years up to this point. I interpret Jesus Christ, planet Earth, and all of the elements, animals, plants, fungi etc. as being an embodiment of this cosmic process. I resonate with the idea that the Cosmic Christ, the Tao, Buddha Nature etc. is the vital thread of Spirit that moves through all things and that the historical Jesus, among others, experienced this and reflected it within his community. Within this living cosmology, there is no heaven or hell that exists as a place outside of Creation. The life giving impulse of Creation and the beauty of planet Earth itself is everlasting life and Heaven. This level of connection cannot be taken away but we can easily lose touch with it when we identify with the pain and trauma that is also inevitable in life.
To reiterate, Hell is identifying with our wounds and suffering to the point where we forget that we are completely loved and connected to life. Heaven is a metaphor for how good life is when we live and act from the knowing that we’re completely connected and can feel each part of this world reaching out to us and holding us in unique, strange, and alive ways. Heaven and Hell can be very real places in a psychological sense but are not places outside of our lives here and now. I believe that we create heaven and hell through our choices. When we choose to act from connection and love, with empathy and compassion while opening to the pain of suffering within ourselves and in the world then we are participating in creating Heaven.
~ Skylar Wilson
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