text: I believe that, ultimately, living the Gospel is not optional but our only hope for salvation.  I am not thinking so much about eternal salvation as about the salvation of humanity here on earth.  If we don't soon learn to live together in peace and love then we are on the road to destruction. Christ showed the way, but we seem to insist we know better and find all kinds of ways to water down the Gospel and impose our values on it.  We need to learn to read the signs of our times and realize that the message of Christ is our only hope.