Your kingdom come
The realization of his rule What do we mean when we pray, “Your kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven”? Malcolm Guite poetically rephrases the question. He ponders, “ Can we imagine what we’re asking for?” When all we know and all we think we’re worth As vanity might vanish, disappear, Fading before the splendours you reveal He then goes on to imagine how Christ’s rule would upend the way we view how things work in this world. To help me meditate on Christ’s kingship, I turn to Hans Memling. He was a 15 th Century Flemish painter adept at portraits. This painting, the middle section of his Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation shows Jesus crowned in heaven, surrounded by musical angels, who look to me like an angsty middle-school girl band. This doesn’t quite illustrate the splendours Guite references. But it’s a good starting point for my contemplation. I focus on Jesus, ignoring his...
