THE GATES OF THE KINGDOM
We have all witnessed guards of the kingdom's gate in action by visible signs of feelings and senses elevated in emotions of aggression. They are materialised by loud tone of voice, raised blood level or adrenalin shown by the redness of ears and face, as well as bobbing eyes and veins of the neck. They reduce some poor targets to tears as they interrogate their subjects. But the interaction projects a sphere of tension labelled with ugly emotions of apprehension, intimidation, anger and fear. This interactive sphere of tension is a psychological coercive barrier serving to keep the gate of the kingdom clear from unwanted visitors.
Among the guards are some nice looking ladies who all seem good mannered. But boy wait til they are in action when the guard role emerges, you would run a mile to keep your distance. When the door opens, it is not what you hoped for. That's why I associated hope with objective expectations while practicing targets for achievement. Like dinosaurs licking the remains of their victims, some old hands are still hanging around to remind us of those poor subjects who were drilled, humiliated, and gonged to nothingness.
Guards and keepers of the gate are situated everywhere in the kingdom and are responsible for decisions and execute authority of organisations. They also have gate keepers in the church, in the courts of the justice system, in the Police Force, in the classroom of education, Hospitals and Healthcare, work, sports, fishing, government and parliament, agencies, I said everywhere.
To visit the kingdom, all are invited in the physical presence. But guards who keep the gate make the final selection of those who enter the kingdom. Just like the saying, 'many are invited but few are selected'. Hello, sounds like upward mobile to me. The selection process is based on cultural membership and gender. I mean one might be selected by his/her gender but not by his/her culture. And gender identification is not necessarily complied with traditional sense, but could be a choice of sex orientation. You will begin to see the process as totally superficial and subjective. It makes the kingdom a temporary sandcastle. Everything found in the castle has a temporary life including its mountains of wealth, and splendour of glory.
Why would one be interested in a kingdom founded on a sandcastle, is because it is the nature of our self to be drawn to the superficial and subjective nature of material desire. It is the superficial and subjective kingdom of the self and by nature we all share the same tendencies. By competitions we strive to improve our lot and progress our civilisation for the better. Yeah right! Right now in the real world, most if not all of the world's wealth is owned by a few. But with all their wealth accumulation, they are far from ruling the world. Instead there is chaos everywhere, citizens are uprising in conflicts and unrests as some of those wealth accumulators are overthrown from their material forts as the world's wealth or global economy is on a state of collapse. If the kingdom is stabilised by accumulation of wealth and he/she who owns wealth is supposed to control the world, hello, it doesn't happen.
Jesus was invited to the kingdom and He not only knew about the world's kingdom but also the role of the gate keepers and security on the kingdom's wealth. Jesus also knew about lynch mobs and gangsters among the innocent followers. But the king and his gatekeepers did not know anything else beyond the kingdom of the superficial and subjective self. Apart from rumours, they knew nothing about Jesus. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom, they all laughed as the only kingdom they know is founded on a sandcastle. Jesus was destined for the kingdom of heaven but was not selected by the kingdom of the sandcastle.
So, Jesus underwent the process of interrogation and observed loudness, raised blood level, bobbing eyes and veins as citizens demonstrated ugly characteristics of their material instincts and desire. But Jesus stood his ground upon the pure principle of truth. While political agenda took over judgement of an innocent man, Jesus stood no reason from the elevated emotions of material instincts and desires. He was not only humiliated but sentenced to death on the Cross largely by those who knew nothing about Him. He failed the cultural membership of the superficial kingdom.
Jesus had an ability the people of the earthly kingdom didn't possess. It is a divine inheritance that not only He experienced the nature of human self, but also of the spiritual nature. And if the gatekeepers didn't have it in their genes they wouldn't have it in their knowledge or memory either to understand that there is another kingdom besides the sandcastle. And Jesus didn't hold it against them for that they didn't know what they were doing.
And the Kingdom of God is indiscriminate of culture or gender; it is blind to rich or poor status. It is then that we may be able to purify our earthly packages in order to share and establish the genetic development of our inheritance. And I insist it is possible by practice as we walk among other human beings in our testing times of economic uncertainties. That development is the practice of principles until it becomes natural with feelings and senses, emotions and desires. And before one goes boasting about dah, yes of course it is Grace which saved ya dude!
Jesus was not an intruder on a mission to invade the earthly kingdom. It is rather the insecurity of the earthly kingdom and its false beliefs based on its earthly subjective wealth that had failed to stabilise the material condition itself. The earthly kingdom completely collapsed on the aspect of the spirit.
And as we witness everyday live, no amount of wealth accumulation or powerful force can calm the accumulation of material desires. No Prime Minister elected or otherwise can wave a magic wand to calm a storm. But for the most part of economic, social, and political decisions, we would face interrogation and humiliations at the gate during times of uncertainty, and whether we have anything to do with it or not. But like a cool breeze in the desert, the intuitive conscience awareness leads the thirsty to the stream of life. The needs of the body are necessary but not sufficient to sustain the quality of our existence. The true Kingdom is over and above the material.