“My kingdom is not of this world.”
—John 18.36
… he said, not meaning far from here,
or in some other dimension,
but, looking around at the trappings of power:
not of this world, not this kind of world:
the world of fear and dominion,
of power and violence,
the world of privilege and exclusion,
of hierarchies and judgments,
a world of “deserving.”
My realm is a world of grace and mystery,
a world of fierce kindness and tender beauty.
Don’t worry, I won’t take your throne.
And yet, my kingdom invades.
My love sneaks past all guards, escapes all armies,
evades your stoutest defenses.
The Realm of Grace infuses this world,
seeps through every dimension of it,
contains it wholly, prevails forever.
The love I bear withstands all evil,
overwhelms all fear, overpowers all might.
You will keep your throne, wield your power,
play your games of cruelty—
and it will amount to nothing.
In the end I will not take your kingdom from you.
Your own body will do that.
And my Realm will go on.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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