The Kingdom of God is like....

I started this "The Kingdom of Heaven is like" feature awhile back, so I think it would be good to explain the premise to those who may have missed that initial post.

In the Gospels, Jesus sometimes compares the "kingdom of heaven" to all kinds of things.  A lost coin.  A beautiful pearl.  A hidden treasure in a field.

When Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven/the kingdom of God - it's something that's both now and not yet.  God's kingdom exists in eternity - but it's also something we catch glimpses of all the time.  In large and small ways.  The kingdom of God enters into our daily lives in all sorts of ways: a compassionate interaction, a convicting preacher, a long hike, a great book.

Here's my "kingdom of God" moment for the week....

I've really been enjoying sitting down and the piano and fumbling my way through my grandma's old hymn books.  What I like most lately is reading through the words.  Such poetry.  While on a recent Care Center visit, my friend and I just sat and read through hymns together for awhile.  It was delightful.

On Sunday night, I came across "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" - by Lizzie Tourgee & F.W. Faber.  I love it!  Especially the 3rd verse.

After playing through it a few times, I became very curious about Lizzie.  The hymn was first published in 1878, so I figured she must have been pretty awesome.

It turns out Lizzie's last name was misprinted in this hymnal.  The actual spelling was Lizzie Tourjee.  With a J.  Mr. Faber wrote the words, and Lizzie wrote the tune.  As a high school senior!  For her graduation.  How neat is that?!?!  The name of her particular tune is Wellesley.
Here's the full story on her tune.

Interestingly, the author of the text of the hymn - Mr. Faber - wrote more than 150 hymn texts!
This particular hymn, "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" was originally a 13-verse poem.  Click here to read it all.

Now it's your turn.

Where did you experience the kingdom?
A moment of joy?
A feeling of bliss?
A sacred experience?

PS: The Rabbi Harold Kushner recently wrote a book on the biblical book of Job. He spoke about it at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.  MPR rebroadcast the talk yesterday.  Click here to listen to it; I really found it to be meaningful.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.