The wisdom of GK Chesterton, a little known author in secular circles, but a giant in Christian ones (along the lines of CS Lewis), never ceases to amaze me.

“The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose; and the text of Scripture which he now most commonly quotes is, ‘The kingdom of heaven is within you.’ That text has been the stay and support of more Pharisees and prigs and self-righteous spiritual bullies than all the dogmas in creation; it has served to identify self-satisfaction with the peace that passes all understanding. And the text to be quoted in answer to it is that which declares that no man can receive the kingdom except as a little child. What we are to have inside is the childlike spirit; but the childlike spirit is not entirely concerned about what is inside. It is the first mark of possessing it that one is interested in what is outside. The most childlike thing about a child is his curiosity and his appetite and his power of wonder at the world. We might almost say that the whole advantage of having the kingdom within is that we look for it somewhere else.” ~GKC: ‘What I Saw in America.’

Artwork: ‘L’oiseau Chéri’ (Dear Bird) by William Adolphe Bouguereau. Oil on canvas, 1867.

To me this means we all need to be careful when someone says the Kingdom of heaven is within you. Yes, God has left the holy spirit with us on earth and we are supposed to be working toward the creation of God’s new kingdom, the one Jesus talked so much about. But “The Kingdom is within you,” maybe only really applies to children or very old people. At least that has been my experience. You want to experience true joy? Spend a day with a child or someone very old or mentally ill. Perhaps Henri Nouwen had it right when he committed the last years of his very distinguished ministry to serving in a community of mentally-challenged people. Perhaps Mother Teresa knew the same thing. They truly experienced joy and a taste of the coming kingdom. If we avoid children and the disadvantaged, we are starving ourselves of the kingdom and the ensuing joy.

My hunch is that GK Chesterton also spent a great deal of time in English pubs with his friends (I think CS Lewis was one of them). There is no better place for philosophical musings than a bar with friends. Personally, I’ve had some wonderful conversations at two bars in my hometown, the Albatross and the Pub on Solano. I think GKC and Lewis would love these places.

My last plug for both CS Lewis and Chesterton is that they found the time to write children’s books and mystery novels. That proves that their fantasy lives were only enhanced by their philosophical discussions. Imagine two college professors at Oxford finding time to write children’s books. I think they had much joy in their lives….In fact, Lewis, the curmudgeon of an Oxford professor that he was, ended up marrying a woman named Joy and writing a book called “Surprised by Joy”. I suppose he didn’t think there was room in his life for love or a wife. Sadly, his “Joy” died of cancer. A movie was made of this story, but it is almost too sad to watch. I don’t know whether Chesterton every married or not. If anyone knows, tell me! In any case, his impact lives on. In Madrid my last day, the ceramic saleman was reading a mystery book by Chesterton. Several months before that I received a free card when I purchased books at a religious bookstore and the card had a wonderful quote by Chesterton. The great thing about being an author is you have posterity through your writing. Same goes for being a parent or perhaps any other thinking, caring human being. Gracias a Dios para este regalo.