Rejoice, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand :)

“Immanence is a well-known modern doctrine.  The points to be noticed are that it is implicit in various parts of the New Testament, and was explicit in the first theological epoch of Christianity;” so says Alfred North Whitehead in Religion in the Making.  I will go further—immanence is a well-known ancient doctrine as well.  Plotinus believed that we all share a divine origin, and need only quiet the mind in order to connect with our divinity in the present.  I’d like to share, and critique one biblical quote that illustrates immanence, because this quote was critical in my faith development and have everything to do with how I ended up in seminary: 

 “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there!  For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Gospel of Luke 17:20-21 (The Holy Bible, translation unnamed)

Let’s start with the Kingdom of God, also referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven, depending on the translation.  In the translation I have quoted, Jesus says it is within,  Other translations say that it is already among you or at hand.  The idea that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand is why early Christians believed that Jesus would soon return to judge the living and the dead, and it seems the idea that the Rapture is right around the corner becomes prevalent every few hundred years. 

But since, to the best of my knowledge, the rapture has still not happened and Jesus wrote 2000 years ago.  So either Jesus meant exactly what he said, or he was wrong. Either he meant very literally that the Kingdom of God is already here and can be found within, or he meant something else and he was wrong.  I was thirteen when I first read that passage, and the biblical translation I used read “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” I believed Jesus was right about everything, so he must not have meant the world was about to end since that didn’t happen.  Instead, he must have meant that this is the Kingdom of Heaven, in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

          Maybe you’re thinking that given my young age when I read this I had a lack of experience with the “unheavenly” aspects of life, and I should reconsider my stance on this.  Well, please let me assure you I was very well aware that life as I knew it was a pretty far cry from anyone’s idea of heaven.  There were other biblical passages I read that helped me understand why that’s the case, and yet others that gave me an inkling of how to live in such a way that I could experience the Kingdom of Heaven right here, right now.  It was (and is) my interpretation of scripture that helped me find my way to a better life, which is why I’m so interested in sharing that interpretation.

          However, my question to you isn’t “do you believe Earth is the Kingdom of Heaven?” but rather, my questions are: a) How would you think and act if you did believe it? b) Could thinking and acting as if you believed it change the world for the better?

          Being a UU, I can already come up with arguments, and maybe you can too, but for a moment set aside the negative thinking and just allow yourself to imagine…