Salvation

The rich young man asked Jesus, "What must I do to have eternal life?"
Strange how normal it is for us to think that if we want something we have to "work" for it.

"To have eternal life"
I think that this is one question that we all have in our heart. Probably it is not "eternal life" in its religious sense. Perhaps it is the silent prayer that the present state of life, when everything goes well, just continue. Or perhaps it is the wish for better days.

"I have done that since childhood"
I read disillusionment behind these words. It is as if the man was saying "the formula is wrong".
I believe that each one of us experiences this disillusionment once or more in our life. You keep the rule, you live within the expected parameters, and life seems to be fine until one day you just find that everything crumbles or an ache nagging at your heart. Then you cry out to God or to "anybody" out there to get you out of the rut, out of this uneasy place.

"Go and sell what you have ... give away the proceeds ... then come and follow me"
This is God's response, and it totally baffles us. In going and selling everything I am invited to see the futility of thinking that I can get what I want if I just work for it.
After the disenchantment brought by my past experiences of self-sufficiency, it would seem easy to "sell everything", but it is not.
The invitation really is to let go of control. And I hesitate because i want to hold on to something, no matter how small it may be, but hold on to something that gives me security.
The invitation is to let God work in me. It is an invitation to trust, that fullness of life is a gift ... that God generously gives this fullness of life without any merit on my part ... that when I open my heart to God, the laws, the rules don't lose their meaning at all, rather, they find their proper place not as a burden but as my participation in God's creation of His Kingdom here on earth. Then my heart enlarges and there is room there for everybody.

The young man went away sad ... he had many possessions"
What a pity! Burdened with his many ties to comfort and security, the young man loses his chance to true joy. He fails to see the eyes looking at him with love.
And this story repeats itself again and again.
May it not have the same ending in our life story.

For it is indeed only in God that we find salvation: salvation from the original sin that still leaves an imprint in our lives, both personal and communitarian, poisoning our chance to true joy; the original sin is our illusion that we are the center of the world, that we can live without God.