The Kingdom of Heaven is Like an Onion

The Kingdom of Heaven is like an onion. There are many, many layers to it. I'm sure you think I'm going to say that as we peel the first layer, then go deeper in, we discover something more. But if I follow that logic, eventually I get to the center where there are no more layers. When I get to the center, I've discovered all that I could possibly find and know.

No, the Kingdom of Heaven is like an onion, but not in the way just described. Rather, we start in the center -- we are born there. It is a place where rules and regulations govern every aspect of our lives. It's a place where we are very certain of how things in this world work, how everyone is supposed to relate to us, and how people and organizations are supposed to behave and act.

But then, we discover that the world can be a bit unpredictable at times. We discover that the onion we live in is a little bigger than we first imagined. Peoples and things don't quite work and behave like we thought they should. Rules, which seemed so black and white at first, we discover now cannot be applied indiscriminately in every situation. There is a different force at work. Things become a bit more uncertain.

At this point, we have a choice: We can refuse to accept that the world is a little bigger than we are comfortable with, and choose to explore this new layer; or, we can refuse to acknowledge that there are some things which we don't know yet and retreat into the comfort zone of what we already know.

Those who are courageous enough to venture outward discover that there are even more layers. And unlike onions in this world, this metaphysical onion is infinite in size and layers. The more you choose to venture outward, the more you discover. The more you choose to explore, the easier it becomes to explore. Your world and universe continue to get bigger and bigger. You can't imagine what it was like when you were trapped in the center -- when that was all you knew of the universe. As you travel outward, you discover more and more freedom.

As you travel outward, you discover and experience more and more of this force that more and more strongly attracts you and drives you outward. The force is love -- the force is God himself. To those still in the middle, the attraction of God is minimal, but as a person begins to move outward, the attraction becomes stronger and stronger until it becomes nigh impossible to even consider a retreat. You become less and less certain of your own knowledge, but more and more certain of God's love and the true freedom love offers.

I think it is better to imagine God and his love surrounding all of us and all of his creation, rather than the more standard metaphor where God is at the center and we are all trying to find the one right and perfect answer. In the model described here, where God surrounds, no one will ever have the one complete, right, and perfect answer. Because if any person ever achieves that, then he or she is, in essence, God. No, if God is infinite as he claims he is and we believe he is, then our spiritual journeys never end. It always moves into new territory as we discover and experience more of who and what God is.

Each spiritual journey is different. There is none identical. In the model where God is at the center, the implication is that eventually all spiritual journeys converge and become alike. With God surrounding, no spiritual journey ever can be alike. Every person will have a differing understanding, knowledge, and experience with God for eternity.

The Gospel according to John in the Bible seems to describe this -- in different words, of course. Every person starts out in the same place. Those who choose to accept Jesus Christ, even a little bit, begin their journeys outward.

But those who refuse to believe and accept Jesus choose to retreat. They distance themselves from the only force that can help them grow and find freedom. The more they distance themselves, this force that use to attract they now find repels them further inward. The more they move inward, the more trapped and smaller they become. They become slaves to themselves and to their knowledge. They find it becomes impossible to even acknowledge that some other viewpoint could be more correct. They shrink until they cease to exist. This is the judgment that John writes about Jesus speaking. It is the decision that people make for themselves.

Those who choose to accept Jesus, as John describes Jesus saying, escape judgment. These people find freedom. But those who choose to retreat until they disappear, enter into the judgment of infinite nothingness, deciding for themselves that freedom and life is not what they want.

Where are you in your journey through the onion?