Just as the Pharisees way back when were asking Jesus when the Kingdom of God should come, so today many are wondering the same thing in one way or another. Jesus’ answer was, you are not going to find it out there, by observation through the physical senses, because “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
What could he possibly have meant. Surely the Kingdom of God is incorporeal, a spiritual “place.” And God is considered to be infinite. What an absurd statement that would be if the “you” were a physical entity. The infinite confined in a finite form??
As far as we can tell, Jesus was referring to consciousness, which by our definition is also incorporeal, and not observable empirically, just as when we acknowledge “I exist,” we do not need to look in a mirror to confirm it.
So then, the Kingdom of God is in consciousness, and not at some future date, for time is a mortal concept and has nothing in said Kingdom! So right here, right now, we may turn thought to the Kingdom of God. How to do this?
First, let’s be clear. Jesus’ statement is radical and can in no way be reconciled to the human paradigm - that the Kingdom of God be within us - something so grand, so immense, so perfect to be found in the human which is so imperfect.
But in a favorite resource, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, is presented a compelling revelation of Jesus’ reference to the Kingdom of God - an absolute state of being often referred to as “in Science” in the following excerpts, and yes, it is radical:
In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beauti-
ful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is
not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor
does he pass through material conditions prior
to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ulti-
mate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the
law of his being.
Every valley of sin must be exalted, and every
mountain of selfishness be brought low, that the highway
of our God may be prepared in Science.
At present mortals progress slowly for
fear of being thought ridiculous. They are
slaves to fashion, pride, and sense. Some-
time we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has
created men and women in Science. We ought to weary
of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which
hinders our highest selfhood.
Miracles are impossible in Science, and here Science
takes issue with popular religions. The scientific mani-
festation of power is from the divine nature
and is not supernatural, since Science is an
explication of nature. The belief that the universe, in-
cluding man, is governed in general by material laws, but
that occasionally Spirit sets aside these laws, — this be-
lief belittles omnipotent wisdom, and gives to matter the
precedence over Spirit.
Through spiritual sense you can discern the heart of
divinity, and thus begin to comprehend in Science the
generic term man. Man is not absorbed in Deity, and
man cannot lose his individuality, for he re-
flects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, soli-
tary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all
substance.
In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The
divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who
threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted
their lives higher than their poor thought-models would
allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick,
sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of
scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Prin-
ciple and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the
basis of thought and demonstration.
The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed,
but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of
hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the
Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and
this advance beyond matter must come
;through the joys and triumphs of the right-
eous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions.
Like our Master, we must depart from material sense
into the spiritual sense of being. (S&H)
I cannot add a thing!