“Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.” // Luke 21:29-31
The Kingdom of God is near.
This morning as I swept the fifteenth pile of our random breakfast smatterings, snack overflow, and tiny, broken plastic toys from who-knows-where, all while my dishes loomed from the kitchen sink in my periphery, while the twin babies cried for a bottle or just to be held, and while the list of the weekly demands scrolled in my head like the Nasdaq 100, it wasn’t exactly easy to feel, or see, the Kingdom of God.
Yet it’s here, with us. Left behind in the promises made to the apostles, and to us, through Sacred Scripture. After His Ascension into Heaven, our Lord made a way to stay with us to be even nearer to us, just in more hidden and in harder to see ways. Yet He is here—and therefore, so is His Kingdom.
We know that God dwells within us, beginning with our Baptism. And we know Jesus also stays with us in the Eucharist, and through this Sacrament He infuses His very Self into our own beings. Truly staying with us and in us, nearer than ever before. And this is precisely why those piles I swept and those dishes that loom can become the altars of my domestic church. So can the desk, the computer, the diaper change, and the to-do list. All is made sacramental in its own small way, because Jesus entered into the material creation and stayed with us. And because He continues to stay, no little thing is wasted and all things are made new in this Kingdom of God come near.
Lord, help me just to see it, this Kingdom You bring to me each day. In all the little things I often overlook or begrudge. It is all holy ground with You, Jesus. Help me just to see it.
Blythe Fike is the wife of Kirby and mother of eleven smallish kids in small town SoCal. She firmly believes sanctity is found in the everyday and is trying hard to live that truth, despite her countless fumbles. She enjoys sunshine in heavy doses, good music, and babysitters. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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