The deeper I go in my own spiritual journey the more I have a sense of why Jesus described the Kingdom metaphorically. It isn’t because I know so much about the Kingdom; I don’t know anything more then anyone else, maybe less, much less. But I do know about faith communities. And faith communities are, I think, supposed to emulate the Kingdom in some form or fashion given that it is made up of those who are confessed followers of Christ who have pledged their life to love God and their neighbor as self. That “love” part is the character of the Kingdom. It has been said about the Kingdom, that it is both here now, and not yet. (C.H. Dodd) That makes increasing sense to me. It is possible, touchable, perceivable right in this very moment and yet it eludes us - not because it is inaccessible but because we are working out of a worldly paradigm and not a Kingdom paradigm and therefore the Kingdom is prevented from fully manifesting.
Christian faith communities are very much sewn together from the fabric of the world by people who understand themselves as human beings and not spiritual beings. Of course up until this century we didn't really have the imagination or the science to do otherwise. But growth and expansion is the natural way of the cosmos. The church and its life has not received an exemption. Theologian Teilhard De Chardin opened a door that can’t now be closed when he posited: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Current science is revealing incredible things about our world and the cosmos we inhabit (or rather, that inhabits us and how there is no real difference between the two). It turns out that our physical bodies are made up of little more then vibration with a tiny bit of matter. The concrete world we thought was so concrete is not at all; or rather it is, but only because we believe it to be so. Einstein said it best some 75 years ago: “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” As scientifically provable as these things are, we still relate to the world in the same way we always have, and for a lot of reasons. But as the spiritual awakening around the world continues to unfold like a beautiful lotus flower, and life continues to cause us all to expand and grow we are invited increasingly to comprehend this new paradigm of Being-ness.
What does it mean to be a Spiritual Being? How is it different from understanding one’s self as a Human Being? I think if we could begin to speak to (not answer, as if it were a problem to which there is a clear solution) in the most positive terms we could begin to then relate to ourselves and the world around us in terms of the Kingdom of God. We could be in a state of being in the world that is overwhelmingly blissful, beautiful and bountiful. This seems a conversation worth having in faith communities. Or maybe we could begin with at least one part of that: Speak positively… about everything. Listen to how you frame each thing that passes from your lips. Humans have much to fear. Spiritual beings have nothing to fear. From which paradigm do you chose to live, move and have your being? The Kingdom is at hand.
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