The Kingdom of God is Like... Wildflowers

 ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.-Matthew 13:44


Yesterday's gospel was a series of parables about what the kingdom of heaven is like.  How would you fill in the blank?  The kingdom of heaven is like ____________ .


My favorite description is that the kingdom of heaven is like wildflowers, making even the most dreary places beautiful.  Did you ever notice that about wildflowers?  I've seen them sprout up in the cracks of city sidewalks or around the edges of smelly recycling centers or growing in clumps in the cracked pavement of old or abandoned shopping centers.  They are the most beautiful in these unexpected places.


And isn't that how the kingdom of heaven is... most beautiful in the most unexpected places?  I'll bet the kingdom of heaven is showing up in Oslo just as it has been showing up in the tornado-stricken mid-west and in Japan and in Haiti.  The kingdom of heaven breaks forth in glory in the lives of those who have lost little children to horrible diseases and in the lives of those who have experienced terrible violence.


The wonderful thing about these wildflowers of the kingdom is that they are you and I.  We each can be God's wildflowers, sprouting in the most unexpected places and bring beauty to the ugliest areas of life.


How can you be a wildflower today?


Father,
May your kingdom burst forth in our little corner of the world today and may you use me to show forth that glory.  Amen.


Joys:  an absolutely wonderful weekend with my sisters and family; Cecelia and Joey becoming "best friends"; a weekend split between Blowing Rock and South Mountain.