"...work out your own salvation..."

The more days that pass, the more Sheldop Kopp's words ring true. I think I will write a post on each item in his Eschatological Laundry List. 

Another quote from his book:

Love is more than simply being open to experiencing the anguish of another person's suffering. It is the willingness to live with the helpless knowing that we can do nothing to save the other from his (their) pain.

We cannot work out the salvation of anybody else. We cannot take their pain away for them, force them to process things in a particular way because they seem so clear to us. Each person needs to own their own journey, and work it out as best they know how.

Choosing to work out my own salvation, and freeing others to do the same seems scary, uncertain, and probably liberating in the long run. Sometimes I just want to know that outcome, but in the end knowing the outcome would breed apathy.