What Matter Is So Strange as This?

Photo by Kevin Hartnett

What matter is so strange as this,

At once both near, yet far away?

I think upon His Kingdom come,

And watch intently for the Day.

-- K. Hartnett, February 2000

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ… (Philippians 3:20)

Comet Hyakutake - a Celestial Close-Encounter

One of the brightest comets to appear in the last half of the twentieth century, Comet Hyakutake will be remembered by most city dwellers as a diffuse, hazy blob in the spring 1996 sky.  But for those living in more rural areas, this celestial spectacle will not be soon forgotten.  Equal in size to the Big Dipper on the sky, Hyakutake's long single tail swept straight back from its head, or coma, which itself was as large as the full moon.  The memorable appearance was due in fact to the comet's "close" passage to the earth, rather than by the comet's actual size, which was quite small.  Passing only 9 million miles away, this encounter was at only one tenth the distance between the Earth and the Sun.  Had Comet Hale-Bopp, an intrinsically much larger comet, passed this close, it would have been easily seen in broad daylight.

…then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)

Certain theologians describe the kingdom of God as the “already, but not yet.”  This paradoxically describes the fact that with the inauguration of the church by Christ, certain aspects of His ultimate kingdom, such as peace with God and sacrificial care for one another, have already begun.  The true fulfillment of the kingdom, of course, won’t occur until the king Himself returns- something that Christ promised.  This poem plays off the idea that Comet Hyakutake passed astronomically “close” to the earth, when in reality it was still millions of miles away.  God’s kingdom is “at hand,” as Christ taught,  yet still some distance hence.