Series 1 - Lesson 1 - Annotation 10
What and where is heaven?
10. Heaven is the poised and balanced wholeness existing in man and in the universe through a conscious realization of the presence of God — Absolute Good.
We find the word kingdom used in two ways:
- "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21 A.V.).
- "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17).
The kingdom of God, then, must be the realm of God within the individual, the very Presence of Absolute Good or God's own nature in every man. The kingdom of heaven is the realm of harmony resulting from the right use of the ideas that make up the kingdom of God. Harmony (heaven) is always "at hand" ready to be brought into manifestation when we handle rightly the Truth (ideas) of God.
"The kingdom of heaven . . . is a state of consciousness in which the soul and the body are in harmony with Divine Mind ...
"Teachers of metaphysics find that their most difficult work is getting students to recognize that heaven is a condition of mind" (Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, Heaven, p.266).
The Kingdom of God is neither a state of mind nor a condition of mind, but it is the God nature; the kingdom of heaven is that good state or condition of mind that produces in the outer life a sense of harmony, causing us to feel that we are truly "in heaven."
When we say "our Father who art in heaven" we can see that this universal Father of all, who is also our loving, individual Father, could only be harmony, wholeness, perfection. We must become con- scious of and obedient to the God ideas, and make right use of them (handle them rightly), in order to dwell in this "home" of God and experience the heavenly state of joy, order, and harmony that stem from the "kingdom of God . . . within you."
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Preceding Entry: What benefit comes to us from praying to God as "our Father" (Matt. 6:9)?
Following Entry: What is it to "hallow" the name of God?