“Lo, here! or, There!”

How the Kingdom of God cometh.

(The Gospel History, Section 115)

And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God Cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! Or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.

“Lo, here! or, There!”

(The Saviour of the World, Vol VII Book I Poem IX)

We run about to hear and see.

See, this one, or lo, that,

Hath done great things, hath said strange words

We needs must wonder at!

.     .     .     .     .     .     .

The Pharisees regard that scene

Ten loathsome men restored,

Their flesh made as a little child’s

At one almighty word!

But, lo, a greater wonder yet—

A man returns to praise;

A leper purified to Christ

Lifts head, adoring gaze!

Christ names the power the crowds perceive;

“Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

“A new thing this,” they recognise,

“Beyond the Law’s control!”

And memories, of an earlier word,

Of teaching they had heard

Returned to them: “The kingdom, then,

Doth it new life afford?”

The Lord made answer, “Verily ye

Go up and down for signs;

By observation none perceives,

By sight, no man divines:

In vain ye scan the heavens, the earth,

Seek men who claim renown

In gifts of intellect, high place—

Whose fame in all the town:

Great things be like these do or say

But be not ye deceived;

God’s kingdom comest not by them

In whom ye have believed.

’Tis vain to journey to our God,

For only in one place

The Kingdom is revealed in him

Who manifests God’s grace:

Look ye within if there ye find

A heart towards Him that turns

As sunflower lifts a steadfast gaze

To where the great sun burns.

Then, know, God’s kingdom sure is come

Within you in his reign!

And in the presence of your God

His peace shall ye attain!”

St. Luke xvii. 20-21