“The father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.” (The Gospel of Thomas, saying number 113)

“God wants us to understand and believe that we are more truly in heaven than on earth.” (Julian of Norwich, 1343–circa 1416)

The first of these quotes is one of the most beautiful statements I have ever come across. I believe that it contains and summarizes some of the supreme elements that religion and spirituality, in general, have to offer. And if we bring it into conversation with the second quote, I think we already have the basis for an entire view of life, its meaning, its reality, and its intent.

There is something extraordinary present upon this earth, but it is invisible to our customary sight. It goes by various names and descriptions, but perhaps its fundamental “shape” is constant: it is a “place” possessing dimensions capable of being “spread out”; it is available to consciousness under certain conditions; and it comes from a higher power, which also goes by many names and descriptions. This “place” belongs to us and we belong to it, so much so that we are more truly within it than we are upon this planet, at least as we customarily view the Earth. We are capable of understanding this “place” and knowing its reality, but there is an element of “belief” here which is apparently necessary in order to “see” it.

Part of the beauty of the first quote is the suggestion that, though people do not see it for the most part, the father’s kingdom is concretely present in some way, and perhaps it can be seen, under the right conditions. This is beautiful because it means that human perception is unbound by its normal limitations; no matter how extensive and multi-faceted our world may appear to be, there is much more; human life is open to dimensions that exceed ordinary conceptions.

Now, what could be the nature of the “belief” that Julian refers to? And why shouldn’t we simply be aware of this “heaven” at all times? Why the hiddenness?

This believing is bound up with understanding, she says, and perhaps it takes a “God” to initiate such understanding and belief. My feeling is that this kind of belief is a necessary and simultaneous companion to a deep understanding and appreciation of life. But there is definitely something unfinished about us. We have all these desires and projects, and we seem to be most aware of conditions and events after they have already occurred. Maybe there is something inherently and necessarily incomplete about human life, and about life itself. Some spiritual traditions suggest that all creatures are here to learn; not only to act and to create their individual lives and societies, but also to further some grand project that encompasses all activity, universally, a project bound up with consciousness and the attainment of wisdom.

But again, why is heaven hidden for so many of us, so much of the time? Is heaven a name for the attainment of wisdom, whether on an individual, species, or universal level?

I do think that heaven and wisdom are intertwined and inseparable. And I think that the state of being unfinished and unfulfilled is a natural counterpart to heavenly wisdom, a bit like the relationship between an unperformed piece of music and its performance; as if being unheard and being heard, together, form a meaningful and purposeful sequence. Perhaps hiddenness is good: if it were not for its being hidden, there would be no act of grasping heavenly wisdom. “At last!” is a beautiful thing, when it happens. Perhaps the “when” is the important point here: time implies change and development, as if there is something underappreciated that wants to be truly seen.