Finding the Kingdom...

Ever go on a quest, in search of…, only to find out--surprisingly--it ended pretty much where you originally started. Happened to my wife when she thought she wanted to move back to NY, only to find out--surprise--she loved it where she was in PA. Happened to any of us who played that 90s PC game Myst. (“Bring me the blue pages!”) Happened to me when I decided I wanted to find God, not just talk to Him from afar.

I’ve always been a vivid dreamer who enjoys that other world, the one with no rules, where I can fly and make the sun rise. I thought if I could come face to face with God anywhere, it would be there. I’d call out into the sky, but He never appeared.

Where do you imagine He is? When you pray, is He far off in heaven and you’re hoping He is receiving you? Is He in the room with you, but you can’t see Him or feel Him yet? Where is He really?

The perhaps mind-boggling thing about finding God, is that once you realize where He is, you’ll simultaneously realize that He was there the whole time, and that, hey, wow, it is true that “the kingdom of God is within you.” But first, you have to understand what that seeming mystery means.

For those of you who think of God only as a creator, you might imagine He created heaven and earth and Adam and Eve, only to then sit back in heaven, watching and occasionally amazing. If so, God may seem far away for you and therefore hard to imagine Him right with you.

Stay with me here: When you eventually come to the realization that God is not only a creator, but a sustainer--in that, in every second, we exist as ongoing projections of His light and love, condensed into energy and matter, living His dream with our own free will--you will then know the truth that you are actually created by His image, in His image, and with Him always.

He IS every molecule, every atom, every breath, every life. You cannot be separate from Him, even if you proclaim He doesn’t exist. Yes, you can create all the imaginary distance you want, or neglect the bond you have, but the flip side of that truth is, you can be as close to Him as you want, to the point of disappearing in His bliss for little vacations from our world.

The kingdom of God is within you. Quiet all the chatter in your head and experience His bliss today...