What do you think of when Jesus says, "the kingdom of God has come near?"  A better question is, when last did you experience the kingdom of God?  You know what I mean; the kingdom is that moment when God's truth emerges as truth.  In an instant you know that God's way is true and perfect.  In that moment you realize that God's truth is more beautiful than all the worlds brutal truths.  God's kingdom is power available to all.  It's power to be cooperated with here and now.  Kingdom power allows us to proclaim, radiate, create, fulfill and resist.  Kingdom is as close as God's word.  Yesterday, I saw the kingdom of God at the bedside of a dying woman.  In that moment, we were certain together that death does not end life, it only changes it.  I saw the kingdom of God the other day when a child put his last two dollars in the collection plate and boasted with absolute joy, "I am a cheerful giver."  I see the kingdom of God each week at St. Paul's, when in worship, just for a minute we suspend our individualism and our personal agendas, join hands with strangers and sing, "Our Father who art in heaven...."  The kingdom of God is very near, now we know we are not "...mere flotsam and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround us."  Because the kingdom is near, now we know we are not forsaken.