When the Kingdom Comes
The blind poet Homer describes a beautiful world of adventure in The Iliad and The Odyssey. Homer saw much through his window, though the blinds were drawn.
How do you and I nurture the hope of peace in the war-torn, terrorist-riddled world we live in? We plant seeds of hope in a desolate wasteland. We pray for peace! We pray “Thy Kingdom come!” We tell our story.
We work toward that day Isaiah spoke of, “…the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse [Christ the Savior] shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:9-10).
Lorraine Code shares the story “My Window”:
“Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
“The men talked for hours. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their lives. Every afternoon the man in the bed by the window would describe all the things he could see outside the window.
“The other man began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.
“Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the other man would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
“One morning, the nurse arrived to find the man by the window had died peacefully in his sleep. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse made the switch.
“Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window. It faced a blank wall.”
With the aid of grace and our spiritual imagination, what do we see through the window of our soul? The beautiful world of the emerging Kingdom of God.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).
As elders in the faith we are called to pass on the Good News to distracted ears. We need to speak to hearts broken by the seemingly meaninglessness and the pain of daily suffering. We need to look beyond the cross to the Resurrection.
The shepherd calls his sheep, still. They know and heed his voice.
God looks on us today as his creation, and he loves us. His seeing us is an act of love, an embrace that encourages us and rescues us from degeneration and decay.
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