| Readings for June 17, 2012
Where do we look for the kingdom of God?
Yesterday we took our two grandchildren to a park. They skipped over their favorite places: the wooden fire truck, the climbing stuff, the swings and slides, and ran over to the long expanse of green grass, and in the distance, a water fountain with lots of ducks in the pond. Our two-year-old granddaughter immediately screeched with total delight, "Run! Run!" and loped and hopped as fast as her little legs could chase her older brother, to look at the dancing water and the mama, daddy and baby ducks. She had a smile as big as the sun. Her mind growing by leaps and bounds, she named each thing. She joyfully led us in this circling dance, as if she couldn't get enough of these great things like splashing water, grassy hills, ducks swimming in rows. When a cool breeze hit our faces, she beamed at me, opened her mouth to catch it, and, proudly whispered another new word, "Ah, windy!"
No wonder Ezekiel and Jesus point us again today to the miracle that it's the "tender shoot ... that will become a majestic cedar," and "the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth, but once sown, springs up ... and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." Ascension children from 3-6 years old can't wait to peek at those tiniest of seeds in the Good Shepherd atrium, then look at a picture of the tree it becomes with birds flying in and out of it. When we ask them what is in that seed that is so powerful, they struggle long and hard with a response. They can't put their minds around that hidden force. Neither can we adults. Who would ever think the kingdom of God would not be imaged in beautiful palaces of rich and powerful people, but in the simplest life force which holds within it the power to grow and change and transform itself into a safe nest for other living beings?
Where do we find the kingdom?
God seems to love the smallest, the simplest, the must unpretentious beings, those who don't wield any power, or riches, but who simply delight in all forms of life, and joyfully open themselves to curiosity and appreciation of them. Is God inviting us today to look for the kingdom not in powerful church hierarchies, or political leaders, or in unchanging rules and structures, but to look for it in the eyes, minds and hearts of children, of the powerless, of women, especially now of religious women, of the ignored small people within us and all around us? God's extravagant life is all around us, and in us!
Where do we help build it?
Wherever there's potential to grow, to change, to transform others - the business person who sees some special potential in the job seeker, the parent who nurtures curiosity and adventure in their babies, early, middle and high schoolers, the teacher who sees the potential of poetry or science in the students in the rough classroom where grammar or experimentation haven't even begun, the artist who expresses beauty or rage at the lack of it, the researcher who delves into the mysteries of humans, animals, plants, the earth, the universe. Actually, the kingdom grows inside each of us and inside each community who has that unseen force to grow, to change, and transform our world into a safe dwelling for all. But that quiet, hidden force for growth is not due to any great work of ours. It is totally a gift, but one we can appreciate by choosing to plant it and tend it. If we do, we will experience the "Ah, the wind!" excitement to life, and feel the Spirit blowing through us, renewing the earth.
Mary Sluka has an MA in Asian Studies, and in Pastoral Studies. She's a catechist at Ascension.
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