A surprising poem of hope

Perhaps this is in part a response to Mark's post below. It was on Jesus Manifesto (good guys good guys) and was inspired by NT Wright's book Surprised by Hope (I have a spare copy if anyone wants to borrow it?).

The Kingdom of Heaven has captured my heart

the more I feel it’s power take root

the more I yearn for Beauty and Justice

Today, I thought about buying a building

something old, abandoned, ugly

and turning it into a castle for the Kingdom

A sanctuary

stain glass replacing iron bars

a hedge of roses instead of the fence that everyone expects in this neighborhood…

I want to see a sick person get well again

not so they’ll listen to me, or attend my church, or go to heaven

but so they can know, like I know - the kingdom of heaven is near

I want to be a portal to an alternate universe a stitch where the fabrics of heaven and earth are sewn close
I want to write the most beautiful words I can imagine

and paint them on a billboard over ads for beer and cheeseburgers

I want to walk these city streets till all the walls crumble

build porches for all my neighbors

and sit and talk about how great the Kingdom is starting to look.