The Kingdom of Heaven is like…
On July 26th, the service explored Matthew’s parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. John set some ‘homework’ – an invitation to write our own parables about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
The Kingdom is like this: One day an award winning barista in a city cafe takes out the coffee grounds for the first time ever to the bins. There he finds a womman waiting to collect the grounds as rich garden compost. He takes home coffee grounds himself and discovers that the grounds indeed have more to give. He grows an extraordinary garden of flowers and vegetables in an inner city courtyard that feeds himself and shares produce through the neighbouhood.
The Kingdom of God is like a pandemic that sweeps over all, without favour upseting all our engrained certainty to leave us vulnerable and having to relearn how we live.
Reflecting on the image above:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like stepping forward from the familiar props of the past into the unknown future.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a box of chocolates and some of them are gluten free.
The Kingdom of God is like a corona virus. It spreads from person to person worldwide and changes permanently the way we think and live our lives.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like hamburger. Better with pickles.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like finding a car park right next to the entrance of the supermarket, finding everything you went to buy & some of the expensive things on special, getting to the checkout & finding one empty all ready for you, being given change for a $50 note when you only gave a $10 note but being obliged to be honest & tell the tired middle-aged lady that she made a mistake and having to wait five minutes while she fixes the mistake.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like unveiling the conclusion of an enthralling book.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a diamond, radiant and indestructible.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like the kindness of a stranger who stops to help, gently smiles, then walks away.
The kingdom of Heaven is like a 3 year old asking ‘why?’. The more we try to explain what the kingdom of Heaven is like, the more questions we are asked.
The kingdom of heaven is like rain after a long drought, washing away the dirt & grime, completely cleansing, restoring, renewing and invigorating. It brings new life & growth & nourishes the soul.
The kingdom of heaven is like…Pi
Beautiful
Mysterious
Recurring and Eternal
Irreducible
Irrational but Practical
Concrete
Approximate-able but still illusive
Transcendental but all around us
The Kingdom of Heaven is like… Ms Penna’s orchestra
Full of potential
Moments of beauty
Mixed talents
Beautiful sounds
And filled with laughter
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