The Kingdom of God Is Within You

By Harold Vance

“The Kingdom of God is within you,”
Tolstoy wrote,
After Jesus spoke.
In a greater statement,
Truth never made its home.
For the Kingdom of God,
The Kingdom of Heaven,
Is in your smile;
In the way your warmth enters into my soul;
In the way the sun cannot hope to burn so bright;
In the way that I have come to see
    God’s embrace
    Extending forth
    And comforting children in need.
And the Kingdom of God
Is in your eyes;
    In the way they draw me in;
    In the way they open my heart
        and open my soul;
    In the way they captivate me,
        and bring my heart,
                 mind,
                    and soul
        into alignment,
            to focus on you.
And the Kingdom of Heaven
Is in your embrace;
    In the way comfort and healing
        exude from your very pores;
    In the way you hoist a child up on your hip
        and carry him around and around,
        up stairs and down.
    In the way you prove to me that we truly are Christ’s singular Body,
        One flesh,
                One heart,
                  One mind,
        Beautiful unity.
And the Kingdom of Heaven
Is in your words;
    In the way you speak so gently,
                    truthfully,
                        faithfully;
    In the way you communicate,
        creatively
            (words are in more than just speech,
                there are words in your art).
    In the way you bring me to see
        that the Kingdom of God
            is also in me.

Harold