Ask any ten people how they think about the kingdom of heaven and you’ll likely get ten very divergent answers. This is so notwithstanding a person’s religion or denomination. For Christians, Jesus spent a great deal of his ministry trying to convey just what he was describing when he talked about the “kingdom of heaven.” For example, he compared the kingdom with a tiny mustard seed which started minuscule and grew into a large tree. He likened it to a treasure found in a field which a man sold all that he had in order to buy that field. He described it as a “pearl of great price” or a net thrown into the water which gathered up everything around it. No one was excluded. See Matthew chapter 13.

As with all of Jesus’ parables, there are many layers to these teaching analogies. But clearly, he is describing something of incomparable value. Something that one would be wise to seek with one’s whole heart. But where does one seek this kingdom? Is it a place? Can we experience it now, or only when we’ve passed on? I believe that most people think about these questions more than just a little. They have to do with who we are and what our purpose is in this life.

If we examine the gospels, I don’t believe that Jesus was referring to a place. He taught that the  “kingdom of heaven” is within each of us. Luke 17:21. It is accessible and can be experienced here and now, but it requires a certain state of mind, a certain humility to be realized. When asked who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he pointed to a little child and said that each of us must become like little children. In other words, we must become humble, loving, inquisitive and open.

As we all get older, there is a tendency in each of us to look for certainty in our lives. We want to know answers. This may work well for some things, but usually not for life’s important questions. That’s why Jesus taught in parables. Spiritual ideas are difficult, if not impossible, to convey in words. They are communicated from heart to heart. They are felt more than understood with the head and this is true in every major religious tradition. To be absolutely certain of a concept like the kingdom of heaven is to invite a sense of fundamentalism. Spiritual truths are not stagnant. They must remain fresh and new in the face of life’s challenges. If not, they fail to sustain us when life gets hard.

For example, the translation of “kingdom” in most English Bibles is actually a mistranslation. In the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke, the word is feminine, not masculine. You might say, “queendom.” He might have been trying to convey a sense of motherly love with the phrase. Even the Greek translation of the word, which was the original translation of Jesus words, is feminine. Yet, when translated into English, it became “kingdom.” Why? Who knows, but the mistranslation was perpetuated thereafter.

I mention this example only to present an idea that may make some people feel uncomfortable. Does the change to one word challenge any notion that you thought was firm? If so, you can take comfort in the fact that much of what Jesus taught made his listeners feel uncomfortable, even his own disciples at times.

What I’m saying is that it is so critical to our spiritual growth to admit that we don’t know what we don’t know and to think that we have all the answers is to put a damper on that growth. We must strive to be like little children, to be open to new ideas, and to not be judgmental in our dealings with others or our reaction to different ideas. This is one way Jesus’ parables challenge us.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Charles Wellington is a lifelong student of the teachings of Christ Jesus and regularly meditates with the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe.