The Realm of God

Introducing The Realm of God

The spiritual journey, or process itself, is what Jesus called the Kingdom of God… If we are on the journey, we are [also] in the Kingdom.

Fr. Thomas Keating Cited in Mystical Hours

Brother Teasdale gives us his understanding of this mystical truth in these words:

“In his wonderful masterpiece, Intimacy with God, Father Thomas Keating reveals to us a subtlety of the Gospel to which Jesus often referred in his teachings. This subtlety is at work throughout the parables, and it could radically shake the understanding of religious practitioners:

IF we are living the spiritual life with dedication, persistence, and joy, then we are fully alive and present in the Kingdom of God.

Being in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, requires that we follow the inner journey in which our relationship with God is the centerpiece of our life, and the destiny of the journey itself.

Being in the Kingdom of God is a commitment to prayer, especially the mystical prayer practice that the Christian tradition calls contemplation. It doesn’t matter if we stumble on the way. What does matter is that we get up and keep on the path. We may often struggle with God, but throughout it all, if we love him, we will reside in his kingdom.”

Before diving into the meaning of this for me, I want to quickly address the current consternation about pronouns and gender for God and recommend, as Fr. Richard Rohr and others have said, “that we can dispense with any exclusive language that is gender driven such as King or Queen, and choose an inclusive world such as a realm that can be ascribed to any gender or viewpoint”. However, I do remember, with a sly chuckle, when I introduced the Queendom of God to a Bible class! There was some shock and wonder!

Eventually, new insights from contemporary scholarship will become more commonly known and employed. The more mystical aspect became more instructive and persuasive for me through groups such as Creation Spirituality, and more widely supported by the rise of a spiritually centered feminism in its many convincing teachings.  As these new dimensions of understanding became familiar and more instructive to me, I eagerly and enthusiastically taught them or weaved them into my sermons…

To the larger and deeper point that Fr. Keating was trying to valiantly and eagerly reinforce the conviction that the realm of God is here… now… and ever present! This state of being is also a steady and unfailing state of grace. As long as we are on the contemplative path that promotes a reverence, and a centering joy, we actively participate in the realm of God.