THY KINGDOM COME
This essay is an extension of the previous two (The Way to the Kingdom parts 1 & 2) and will take up the subject from a different perspective. Over 2000 years ago Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer as it is called by some. This great prayer starts out with, after a line of praise and acknowledgement of our Father God, “Thy Kingdom Come” (Matthew 6:10 and Luke 11:2). In both accounts, Jesus is teaching us to pray this prayer; in one He is making a general statement for us to pray after this manner and in the other He, in response to being asked for instruction on how to pray, tells us “when ye pray say Our Father ……” (Luke 11:2).
It is strange that, after the clarity of these statements by the Master and seeing the beauty and completeness of this prayer, so many Christian don’t use it and some claim that Jesus didn’t mean what He said but that he was just offering a pattern of prayer. It could be suggested that most non-Catholic Christians choose not to use this prayer just because the Catholics do but… The beauty and completeness and complexity of this prayer will be addressed in a future post; for now we will stay with “Thy Kingdom Come”
What does this mean Thy Kingdom Come? There are many explanations but for this essay we will look at it as I believe it was intended to be seen; in the same context that I have been writing of: The Kingdom of God is within you. From this vantage point we find the Lord’s Prayer to be an invocation with the objective of bringing into our consciousness the Kingdom of God; to bring us into His Presence. If we are to believe that the Kingdom of God is within you then we must believe too that this part of the Great Prayer is, for those who use it, asking that this become a reality in our lives.
The next statement, “thy will be done”, is from the same verses. Now this is also a very personal invocation for how can His will be done if it is not done by each of us individually. So this should then be seen as asking and praying for the Presence of God in our lives and for His will to be done in our lives and there is none other that can do this but each of us individually.
As the Master told us, this is no easy task. It takes our effort, and this prayer can only help us to change our lives and the way we look at ourselves spiritually. To dwell in the Kingdom is to be in the Presence of God which is in opposition to living our lives in this material world. What brings us to the Kingdom is the opposite of what keeps us away though all is not necessarily evil. If we look to Jesus’ words and find those things that He praises and tells us we should do or tells us are blessed then we will see what it is that brings us to the Kingdom and know that the opposite leads us away. Let us look at some:
Without taking them all, these are a few of the blessed things from the Beatitudes as listed in Matthew (Matthew 5:3-12); the whole of this chapter will be further addressed in a future post. Blessed are the meek; blessed are those who hunger after righteousness; blessed are the merciful; blessed are the pure in heart; and blessed are the peacemakers. These are virtues, all of them, and are part of those things which lead us to His Presence. There are many instructions throughout Jesus’ words that are guide posts to right living but none is so important in His words than Love. We are to love one another, love our neighbor and if we are angry with him to reconcile quickly; He gives us instruction on what to seek after and on the importance of faith. All these things bring us closer to the Kingdom and to His Presence.
Virtue is virtue and right is right throughout all of His creation. Most every world religion tells us the same things when they speak on how to approach God and it is the same God because there can be only one. All that people think about the Hindu God or the Muslim God being different from the Christian God is nonsensical. There can be and is only one. He may be called by different names and may be praised for different attributes but there can only be one; that is the nature of being GOD. And I must add here, we are all His children. Knowing this, like realizing that you can dwell in His Presence, and that you are not the body or the form or the personality that you display, is a great step in realizing your potential spiritually.
From the Christ perspective what is listed above from the words of Jesus are some of the guide posts to the Presence of God and as said, most all religions tell us the same but in differing ways. The Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, explains that the gates of hell are three and lists them as lust, anger and greed (16:21). Is this any different in Christianity, are they not all contrary to the teachings of the Master. The Buddhist scripture lists passion, enmity and folly (words differ by translation but the intent is the same) as things to avoid saying give up the old ways, know the truth and find peace (Dhammapada, Shamballa Publications pg 6). We could go on through every world religion and find in each of them the same thoughts and ideas of virtue and righteousness.
So we should see that the way to the Kingdom and the way to bring the Kingdom to us is the same. It is the same path the same strait gate and the way is found always in living right and in Love. All else is selfishness and leads further and further into darkness. But there is always hope for those that choose to follow the light, the Light that was brought to us and presented by the Christ and all who preceded him and all who follow in their paths. Remember the words of Jesus when He said of Himself “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12) and when He said of His Disciples and those that followed after Him “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) In today’s quote we have a further reference to the quote from above. The Master tells us that we are, or can and should be, the light of the world and that we should let that light shine before men. This is much like being known by your fruits and goes to say to each of us that it is in our daily lives that we present ourselves to others as disciples or followers or believers. It is by what we say and do for that is all that your brother sees.
