The kingdom of God is not a building, it is not a ritual, and it is not a doctrine. The kingdom of God and spirit of the Holy is contained in the rocks, trees, oceans, and above all the human heart. We are taught from an early age that we must go to a building to find the risen Lord. What we are not told or taught is that the risen Lord is inside each and every one of us. To find the Lord all we have to do is look into each other’s heart.

Jesus said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build the church.” Jesus did not intend for us to literally interpret the statement. He did not point to a rock and say, “let’s lay the foundation right here.”  He anointed a person, a human being; not a building.

Over the millennia, faith and the church has to some degree become distant from the core teachings of Jesus. “Love one another as Jesus loved us” comes to mind. The advocacy of the church is for peace and love yet; we do not display or extend peace and love to each other. Greed. Lust. Avarice. Mistrust. These negative traits have infected the human heart. Misogyny and deceit has been here since the beginning of our existence. Even despite all of these negatives, we have at the core love in our hearts. We don’t identify or recognize the love we have in our hearts for ourselves much less the love others have for us.

A friend of mine once explained a laundry list of desires she has for herself. At the top of the list was a description of what she perceived as the perfect man for her. I listened to the list and the only comment I could think to respond with was, “God doesn’t always send what we want. He does send what we need.” She did not understand that statement. Simply, God sends us exactly what we need, when we need it, all we have to do is accept the blessings He intends for us. Yes, we need to have requirements. Yes, we have to accept that the enemy sends his anti-blessings too. But, God surrounds all of us with his blessings every hour of everyday. All we have to do is open our minds and hearts to them. God bestows His blessings in the way the clouds form and move across the sky, in the way trees sway in the wind, in the way sunlight beams on our skin. In birth, in death, in marriage the Lord is the creator. He is the greatest master of multimedia. He is all around us. He is with us. He is within us. This is His kingdom, for He resides in our hearts and minds. Love one another as the Lord loves us and we all will find the Kingdom of God.