The Kingdom of God is Here Already, Yet Not Yet Here

The Kingdom of God (which is, partly, a mysterious, shimmering internal palace in which we experience righteousness, peace and joy) is, in lightning flashes, here already—we can leap into it—though not yet fully here. We sense the rainbowed presence of Christ in the joy which pulses through creation. Christ strolls into our rooms with his wisdom and guidance & things change. Prayers are answered, we are healed, our hearts are strangely warmed. Sometimes.

And yet, we also experience sin, deep within & all around us. Our own sin, which steals our peace and distorts the trajectory of our lives. And the sin of the world--its greed, dishonesty and environmental destruction.

But in this broken world, in which we have a spiritual adversary, we still experience the glory of creation; “coincidences” which accelerate once we start praying, and shalom which envelops us like sudden sunshine. Portals into this Kingdom include repentance, gratitude, meditative breathing, and absolute surrender.

Christ's Kingdom is “here already, yet not yet here.” Christ, 

who rose from the dead, is now forever, vibrantly alive; he 

stalks the earth. We sense him in the joy of all creation. 

In lightning flashes , we glimpse his shimmering Kingdom

--great palaces of peace deep within us. On invitation, Christ 

walks into our rooms with his clarity and wisdom, and things 

change. We sometimes experience wave upon wave of the

 love of God deep within and all around us. Our prayers are 

answered. Sometimes. We are healed. Sometimes. We feel our hearts 

strangely warmed with loving-kindness and warm-fuzzies. Sometimes.

But we also experience sin, deep within and all around us. 

We are bruised by other people’s greed, stinginess, bossiness, 

And then…there’s the sin of the world—the cruelty, pride, 

unbridled greed and environmental destruction!

And yet,  the Kingdom, God’s presence, is always available

--its peace, its guidance, its wisdom and its joy. We can 

leap sideways into it, sometimes. Or it may take a hard 

wrestling with our own traumas, grudges, habits, and neurology. 

Repentance is one portal into the Kingdom.  As is our slow

meditative breathing. As is gratitude. And absolute surrender.

Our eyes still perceive the glory of the coming of the Lord--

in surprising joy and shalom, well-being, which envelops us like 

sudden sunshine; in glacially slow but unmistakeable personal 

change; in the acceleration of coincidences and answers once we 

start praying; in the glory of creation. And so, we, 

with quivering voices, sing our broken hallelujahs as we observe 

Christ’s kingdom inexorably, infinitesimally appear on earth, too.

My memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India UK USA

Blog: anitamathias.com

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My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) and UK

Chapters

• 6:42 Scripture meditation on Matthew 24:20 begins here

Transcript

The Kingdom of God is Here Already, Yet Not Yet Here

The Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:20)

This knowledge hums in our bones: Our life on earth

 will end, and we shall be happy with Christ, and with

the beloved people and creatures we have loved and lost.  

This Kingdom in which God reigns and his will is done, 

which we try to establish in the tiny kingdom of our own

lives is “here already, yet not yet here.” Christ, who rose

from the dead, is now forever, vibrantly alive; he stalks

the earth. We sense him in the joy of creation—birds 

carolling in the cold, trees swaying in the cosmic dance; 

the leap of a dolphin, the ecstatically wagging tail of a dog. 

In flashes and snatches, we glimpse this shimmering Kingdom

--great palaces of peace deep within and all around us. On

invitation, Christ walks into our rooms with his clarity and wisdom,

and things change. Sometimes, we experience wave upon wave of 

the love of God deep within, and all around us. Our prayers are 

answered. Sometimes. We are healed. Sometimes. We feel our hearts 

strangely warmed with loving-kindness and warm-fuzzies. Sometimes.

But we also experience sin, deep within and all around us. Our

biting words, our unkindness, our laziness and selfishness. “I do 

not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, 

this I keep on doing.” The Apostle Paul wrote that. Yes, me too. 

And we are bruised by other people’s greed, stinginess, bossiness, 

carelessness, and deceit. And then…there’s the sin of the world

—the cruelty, pride, unbridled greed and environmental destruction!

And yet, some people live in a kind of heaven right now, as pastor

John Mark Comer writes. The Kingdom, God’s presence, is always

available--its peace, its guidance, its wisdom and its joy. We can 

leap sideways into it, sometimes. At other times, it takes a hard 

wrestling with our own traumas, grudges, habits, and neurology. 

Repentance is one portal into the Kingdom.  As is our slow

meditative breathing. As is gratitude. And absolute surrender.

Our eyes still perceive the glory of the coming of the Lord--

in surprising joy and shalom, well-being, which envelops us like 

sudden sunshine; in glacially slow but unmistakeable personal 

change; in the acceleration of coincidences and answers once we 

start praying; in the glory of creation, new species evolving even

as others die. And so, we, with quivering voices, sing our broken

hallelujahs as we observe Christ’s kingdom inexorably, infinitesimally

appear on earth, too, as Christians have prayed for twenty centuries.