The Light Born Within Her at the Tomb
Tiphareth of Malkuth Day 45 of 50 · Beauty within Presence
The Pearl of Great Price: The Kin-dom as the Beauty That Reorganizes Everything
The forty-fifth saying of the living Christ as spoken by Mary Magdalene:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the road, seeking pearls that are full of beauty and value. And finding one pearl, singular and beyond price, he went and sold all that belonged to him, leaving nothing held back, and took hold of it as his own1.
This pearl is not precious merely for its value, but for the way it shared the creative radiance of God into the world. The beauty of the kin-dom is not a private treasure. It is not something to be protected and curated, but something to be lived and shared with all. If this pearl of wisdom becomes a possession, it no longer serves life, nor does it serve the one who owns it. When the pearl is locked in a vault, where the moth eats and the rust devours, it remains untouched but is no longer safe. Shut away from light and touch, it loses its luster. What is meant to live in the open cannot remain radiant in the dark. The one who hides it forgets its beauty. What we refuse to behold, we eventually lose.
If the soul cannot see the beauty of the pearl, the kin-dom becomes severe and without inner light. The covenant persists, maintained by the community, but the Word, Glory, and Presence depart. It becomes the focus of everything, and life loses its meaning. Each day is built around things that no longer sustain life, and the kin-dom crumbles under the weight of duty and obligation, because the Spirit has been driven out.
The beauty of the kin-dom is the life in the word, anointed by the presence of God, and shining with the glory. This does not happen all at once, but the life we grow into as we live in the wisdom within us. The pearl is the vision of the healed life. It draws close what belongs to life. It guides us to let go of what does not belong, leaving no room for grief.
This pearl is not ours to possess. The traveling merchant sold all he had and gave it to the poor so he would no longer be distracted by Mammon once he saw something truly worth living for. The pearl is the presence of the living God present in all, even as we are held within the heart of the Holy One. The one who finds it does not cling to it, but lives in its glorious light. The kin-dom is filled with the witnesses of this light. Remember, the true beauty of the kin-dom is in the light, not the proclamation of it. It is the life that lives under the sun of Divine Grace.
I found the pearl at the empty tomb when I saw the gardener of all life. It was not in the triumph over the grave, but in the light born within me as I beheld the Living Christ and did not cling to him. It shone through me, radiating out into the world to heal it. This is the pearl of the resurrection that witnesses from the heart.
The beauty of the kin-dom brings healing when mutual indwelling becomes the center of our lives. The pearl of the resurrection is one good thing among many, it is the beautiful, life-giving power at the heart of everything. It draws everything into participating in the Divine Nature2. We let go of what does not belong, and receive what does with open hands.
The better we live God, the more our soul is healed. As we participate in the Divine Nature, we know the world is not changed by force or arguments. Beauty restores the world. The radiant life, lived fully in God, is the salve that heals the world’s wounds.
Matthew 13:45-46
2 Peter 1:4
You were not born broken. Fifteen billion years of the universe’s grace says otherwise, and this book shows you how to live from that. Creation’s Paths: A Creation Spirituality Primer, foreword by Matthew Fox.
