"Thy kingdom come"

KATHLEEN FERGUSON KENWOOD

In that wonderful prayer which Christ Jesus gave to his disciples, when one of them besought him, "Lord, teach us to pray," is the phrase which has ever since been on the lips of Christendom, "Thy kingdom come." The New Testament contains many references by our Master to God's kingdom; and it is interesting to note the condition of thought he was addressing. The pious Jews at that time were looking for the restoration of the Jewish empire, which for over half a century had been under the domination of the Roman dynasty. They saw all around them signs of the Roman occupation: the Roman centurions with their companies paraded their streets; the Roman procurators sat in judgment in their civil tribunals; and they paid taxes to Caesar. It was the great hope of many that Jesus had come to do away with the bondage of the Roman rule, and to establish in its ancient glory the kingdom of David.

In studying the many references to "kingdom" in the gospels, one is struck by the gentleness and persistence whereby Jesus endeavored to make clear to the people what the true kingdom is,—the kingdom of God,—and how wisely he taught them that it is not to be sought in matter, because it is wholly spiritual. He also showed them how desirable it is, when in the parable he spoke of "a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." He taught them also who should receive it,—those who became as little children, having the child's trustful acceptance of good. And he told them to seek it first, and to publish the glad tidings of it to others.

In spite of all this wealth of truth in the gospels about the kingdom, which our beloved Master said it was our Father's good pleasure to give us, it is evident that mankind had not made this kingdom their own. But in the fullness of time there came an interpreter in the person of Mary Baker Eddy, who, in making clear the spiritual meaning of the Lord's Prayer, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 16, 17), gave us the interpretation of "Thy kingdom come" as, "Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present," thus enabling mankind to take another of those progressive steps which Jesus prophesied they should take when they were able.

No one who has felt in the least the healing touch of Christian Science has failed to enter in some degree this kingdom. In some measure he has become conscious that there is nothing real but God, good, and that the seeming opposite of good becomes nothing in the presence of this verity. In some degree he has made the fact his own, that not only does man dwell in this kingdom, but it is universal,—that in reality all men dwell there.

The daily problem which confronts all students of Christian Science is to understand more and more of the kingdom of heaven, harmony, which our Father has prepared for us from the foundation of the world, and so to express in every thought the fact that we are indeed abiding in it, and consciously grateful for it.

The only reward of virtue, is virtue: the only way to have a friend, is to be one. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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