In the pre-virus era, local animal-rights activists held weekly demonstrations at the gates of a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They gathered not to seek the factory's closure, but to love those who would die within its walls. As one participant said, "Even though we're not going to save one single pig, what we can offer for just a second is basic decency for a living being." This, my friends, is living in the kingdom.
Acknowledging the strange and the different as your brothers and sisters. Loving those neighbors fervently, without chasing utopian fantasies. Planting seeds of grace, trusting our Parent to use them however They will. And embracing the delicious paradoxes which ensue along the way. This is the path we are called to travel.
Now, to live in the kingdom is a hard and confusing task. Seeing beauty in the ugliness of life. Accepting uncertainty as a gift. Such traits do not come naturally, but neither are they reserved to the few or the special. Every soul is capable of the journey; all that is necessary is a heart foolish enough to desire it. And for those who manage to summon up the courage, a universe of unquenchable joy awaits.