Kingdom

Thursday, July 10, 2025

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Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

As you enter a house, wish it peace.

Joseph spent sleepless nights waiting for his brothers to return with Benjamin, and reunite the twelve sons of Israel. Perhaps even Jacob would come with them. But how could he travel as old as he was, so hard for him to walk, hard for him even to ride between the humps of a camel?

Weren’t they hungry and unable to find food? Maybe none of them would return. Then what would happen to his brothers, the one imprisoned and the new boss boy in charge of the food they all required to survive. Family was everything to Joseph, who had been gone so long exiled in the strange land of the Egyptians.

Then at last his bearded brothers appeared, but still without Benjamin. Their allegiance to their father held strong, stronger than starvation. Jacob’s loss of Joseph could not be followed by any possibility of losing Benjamin too, and with him his remembrance of the wife he loved. Rachel was always in his thoughts, and the sons of Leah loved him for it. So they bowed before Joseph, Judah looking down while he spoke, Joseph looking straight into his brother’s shattered face, at first unable to speak.

“Have everyone withdraw from me!”

But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him anyway.

“I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers.

His coat of many colors, that object so long of murderous jealousy … forgotten. Those hours at the bottom of the well, hearing nothing but echoes of his own cries … gone from his thoughts forever. The humiliating years in prison when he was falsely accused of sex with the queen … past him now. There instead was the face of Brother Judah, shocked but smiling, there in front of him. There was joy in the morning.

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand!

Genesis is rife with stories of betrayal, adultery, scheming and sin, and there will be more. Even before its gates were closed, the Garden of Eden provided its masters Adam and Eve with temptation and shame. But now … Joseph’s eleven brothers will soon be twelve-in-one again. His father will discover that his son Joseph lives. It’s too good to be true!

As you enter a house, wish it peace.

As you leave the garden, leave everywhere for God, because he’s there next to you, within and without you, around the bend and close at hand. So much world!

Eden

Out beyond Eden it was also garden.

Still is. And we are still here.

The tangled roots of the Tree of Life

hold us, have never let us go.

Fruit trees gladly share with us,

the grasses embrace us,

the ocean bows at our feet,

forests lift their arms in prayer.

Currents of air and ocean swirl

like Vincent’s starry skies—

too much paint! too much energy!

too much color! wild, unleashed!—

all speaking the language

of beauty and overabundance.

Every creature has its part,

receives its blessing, offers its gift.

The toad is not ridiculed for its looks.

The slug is not accused of being lazy.

The worm is not thought of as lowly.

The crab with its little tweezer hands,

the woodpecker whacking away,

the desert scrub, the barnacles

waving their silly little fronds,

all find their food.

Every great predator contributes.

The lions are subject to the fleas.

Vines grow in Chernobyl,

blossoms, every year, at Auschwitz.

There are dragonflies.

 

The great power each is given

is not to dominate, or even to survive,

but to belong. – Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Will it last?

Joseph’s brothers and their clans will be made slaves because they are too successful in replenishing the earth, and finally the Egyptians become afraid of them. The politics and power sta on the side of the home team. The land of Canaan is far away and forgotten.

If the house is worthy,

let your peace come upon it;

if not, let your peace return to you.

Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—

go outside that house or town and shake the dust from off your feet.

Jesus, heartbroken in The Chosen, speaks to his disciples and reverses his instructions from a happier time. Now they must carry all they need to survive and protect themselves. “The country has rejected my message, and as they have rejected me, so they will reject you.” You must be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.

But do not be afraid. I have overcome the world.

As with all our celebrations, Joseph and his brothers find happiness in each other. His father, no longer leaping, cries out with joy. All is right with the world.

For now. But always, God is in our midst and he loves us.

(Genesis 44, Psalm 105, Mark 1, Matthew 10)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

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