The Kingdom

The Kingdom

It's a long way off but inside it
There are quite different things going on:
Festivals at which the poor man
is king and the consumptive is
Healed; mirrors in which the blind look
At themselves and love looks at them
Back; and industry is for mending
The bent bones and the minds fractured
By life. It's a long way off, but to get
There takes no time and admission
Is free, if you will purge yourself
Of desire, and present yourself with
Your need only and the simple offering
Of your faith, green as a leaf.

- R S Thomas

This photo is of "Second Thoughts", the resale shop with a difference - a project supported by Sutton Baptist, where they offer free cups of tea or coffee and a chat to whoever shows up in need of a friendly face. It is on Falcon Lodge - the council estate where Mum used to live. In fact, for several years, Mum used to work there on Monday mornings, so she was known as "Monday Morning". Today was the 20th anniversary of the shop, so they were celebrating with free cookies and cakes to go with the cup of tea or coffee.

This is the type of work the poem is talking about when it says, "Industry is for mending the bent bones and the minds fractured by life."

I appreciated pausing here for a little while on our way to a mini break in the Cotswolds with Mike and Daveen. It, once again brought Mum to my mind and how she always had a heart to reach out to the poor and the hurting.

This is what the Kingdom of God is about.