I often wonder what has happened since then. Where did this Kingdom go? Or where have I gone? I've come to the conclusion that I'm still in the midst of it, but something is blocking my view. I've been drawn of late to a particular verse in Psalm 16. It goes like this in one version: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
After thinking about this and meditating on it for a number of weeks, I have some imagery that is helpful in explaining where this Kingdom "went"; why this inheritance. much of the time, seems to have vanished.
I picture myself being placed in this lush beautiful land, surrounded by waterfalls, trees and beautiful plumage of all sorts. Soon, however, I begin placing rocks in front of me and around me. Eventually there is a wall higher than my head surrounding me completely. I still stand in the middle of my inheritance, but I can't see or experience it.
These bricks, of course, represent my "baggage". My fear of failure takes precedent over faith and so I grab another stone from the quarry and place it on top of the rest. My bitterness prevailed over reconciliation, so another stone is wedged neatly between the others. These stones have been heaped on top of each other over many years. They were meant to protect me from the messiness of the world and those who occupy it, and perhaps there's a sheilding that does actually take place. But, ironically, they also prevent that which was meant to provide power and peace for ministering in the midst of this messiness. They block the view and experience of the Enchanted Kingdom which is more than able to destroy dullness. But in an effort to do so myself, I have created a mundane mural of stacked stones.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance. My prayer (for myself and anyone else who may be in such a position) is that the stones would fall like the wall of Jericho and reveal both the pleasant places again and the battle that we are to engage in. That the beautiful inhertance of the Enchanted Kingdom would become a reality again. And as each stone falls, revealing more beauty with each crash, we would be reminded of how our stories intesect with His, and be empowered to live in that convergence.