Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. 

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.

How you read and interpret these two beatitudes says a lot about how you view God, Christ’s message, and what he came to accomplish on earth. Read sin into every nook and cranny and you will find it. Focus on mourning over your sins while pushing the Kingdom of Heaven into a distant realm that only exists after death if you want to…

Or, on the contrary, you can read them with a triumphant lens to perceive the blessings promised applying to both now and eternity. The eternal landscape is complete only when the tiles that color the present moment are included in the vast mosaic of time. The opening section of the Lord’s Prayer petitions “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). On earth is where we operate everyday…yet what is it that separates earth from heaven? Sin, death, and suffering. God’s perfect will can in fact be done on earth; it happens every day. There are moments full of healing, love, and goodness. That is heaven, even if our spiritual blindness causes us not to see it. Not perceiving does not mean it ceases to be a reality, only that for whatever reason, we “have eyes but do not see” (Isaiah 43:8). 

The Kingdom of Heaven is near as much as Christ is near. He is always near. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is always near. I have seen it most poignantly when the electricity of love is authentically shared and received among members of mankind. Two friends walking down the street smiling was enough to loosen the blindfold that I usually have fastened down somewhat taught. Another example was a couple playing a game of hide and seek with each other at a park in Buenos Aires. Their love and playfulness is the kind that can only be described in the Songs of Songs. I happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right eyesight to recognize how wholesome that love I was witnessing in that moment was. 

I have also experienced first hand being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Forgiveness, gratitude, truth, beauty, and love lead me there most often. It is these moments that make life worth living at all. Without them there is no kingdom above, we would just be left with our carnal flesh at best, and our hell bound inclinations at worst. I sometimes catch myself yearning for heaven… for God. Someone pointed out at a bible study that “God loves you as much right now as He ever will and ever has”. It’s a constant river of love and mercy that pours into the vast oceans, permeating everywhere, and everything. 

While it is constant, the ability to receive that love is anything but constant. There are levels to it like growing up. First you learn to crawl, then walk, run, and so on. Spiritual maturity is very similar (I usually alternate between crawling and walking). It is to slowly learn to forgive all, love your neighbor, and deny yourself. It is not about the amount of time someone spends as a Christian, but the depths to which they cry out from the darkest parts of their souls. If you only let Jesus in the front door of your soul, much like a sales man you decided to talk to, He will look around and see that the floor is swept, the counters are dusted, and everything is in its place. He and you both know there’s a closet in the basement that is filthy, molding, and coated in a layer of black tar. It’s a contagious health hazard to you and to others, and if you don’t let the Great Physician further in, it will stay that way. 

The power of the spoken aloud confession needs to be emphasized more in modern Christianity and practiced by all disciples. When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). It’s not a therapy session even though it is therapeutic. It is simply coming to The Light which brings healing and drives out shame. The extent to which we come to the Light of the world is the extent to which we can grow spiritually. Without confession and repentance we stagnate, allowing the darker aspects to become more and more opaque. Christ only heals what we allow him to heal. Repeatedly, Jesus asks people who are clearly blind, sick, or paralyzed what it is that they want before healing them. Time after time they ask, and He delivers. 

“I am willing, be cleansed”, he says to the leper who sought him out. It is really that simple; seek out Christ because he is willing. It’s our own fault for choosing to bury our infirmities deep down where no one can touch them, thinking erroneously that that will keep us safe. The orthodox priest in my college town told me that “Love would want you well”. 

God is love, and is always waiting for us to come and open up the door in our hearts, to let him into the place that He knows so well because He fashioned it to his liking. He knows you better than you know you. Every laugh, every tear, He was there. He is the ultimate Father. He doesn’t miss a single t-ball practice, and is there in the heartbreak in a way that only a close friend can be. I like the way King David said it…

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

From Psalm 139: 7-14