Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

In her book, The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd tells the story, of a young monk, Brother Thomas, who experienced a terrible loss in his former life. His pregnant wife was killed in a car accident weeks before their child was to be born. Unable to bear his grief, and searching for God, Brother Thomas retreated to the monastery on Egret Island to live and pray and learn, to find his true self, and eventually become one of the monks.

One day, he is asked question about heaven. “This experience of the eternal you mentioned, what is it exactly?”

His answer was this. “When I first came here, I had the impression that transcending the world was superior to simply being in it. I was always struggling to meditate, fast, detach, that kind of thing. One day I realized that merely being here, going about my work was what made me the happiest. I finally figured out that what matters is giving over to what you love. “

What would it look like if we were true to ourselves and to our heart, giving ourselves over to what we love? Jesus teaches us not only how to pray, but he is teaching us what we need from God, and what God would like from us. Jesus is telling us what our life on this earth should look like, what the kingdom of heaven, the experience of the eternal, can and should be right now for each one of us. “Your kingdom come to me now, Your will be done, God, on earth, with me, just as it is in heaven.”

It’s a tall order, and sometimes I think we are very bold to ask God for the things we do when we pray the Lord ’s Prayer. But then I remember, these are the words that Jesus taught us. Jesus is simply reminding us that God’s kingdom is here with us on earth, and it is what we hope for in our eternal experience.

It is in our relationship with God, our acknowledgement of Christ’s presence in our lives, that we become part of the kingdom of heaven on earth. In the name of Christ, give yourself over to what you love, and remember that it is God who loves you, unconditionally, just as you are. The experience of heaven on earth is truly in our relationship with God, so try to be aware of God’s presence in your lives. God will guide you through this life in spite of yourself.