Dear People Whom God Loves,
Reflecting and meditating on these words of Jesus can transform us. What I mean is that letting these words sink into us can change the way we think and the way we live.
A word of clarification. Either the word kingdom or the word reign can be used. I personally prefer the word reign. Why? Because the word kingdom makes us think of God as a king. That might have been valuable in former times but the idea of God as a king doesn’t seem positive to me in our times. A king has power. That power is interwoven with the ability to use force or punishment to make people do as he commands. The power of force seems to me to be a poor metaphor for God who is Love. The scriptures tell us that “God is Love”.
Love and force don’t seem to fit well together. Love is a gift. It comes from free will. A person can be forced to do things but a person cannot be forced to love. A person may be forced to say they love someone or pretend that they love someone, but that is not love. There is no love without freedom. That is why I see king as a poor metaphor for God.
How about the word reign? This to me is better because it more closely resembles the way I see God. God (Love) is the source of all of creation. Source of people yes but source of all creation. Love not only is the source but also lives in and pervades everyone and everything. Love (God) is not the universe but is the source. At the same time Love (God) is intimately in the universe. I believe that the intimacy is in us in a deeper way than in the rest of the universe. But we must not forget that Love (God) is through everything.
Smile, God Loves You,
Father Clay