Twenty years ago, author and psychiatrist M. Scott Peck gave a lecture in which he asserted that the biblical phrase \u201cThe Kingdom of God is within you\u201d has been mistranslated and misunderstood throughout history. Dr. Peck said that if you go back to the original Aramaic, in which that piece of Scripture is written, what it actually says is: \u201cThe Kingdom of God is AMONG you.\u201d That is, the Kingdom of God is in community. Wherever two or more are gathered, God is there.<\/p>\n
As I listen to the campaign speeches of President Obama and Gov. Romney \u2014 each outlining his view for the future of America \u2014 it seems to me that it boils down to this central question: Which do we want \u2026 \u201cevery person for him\/herself\u201d OR \u201cwe\u2019re all in this together\u201d?<\/p>\n
Do we vote for the ethos of individualism: the independent citizen, the rugged individual, the lone ranger who goes it alone? Or do we vote for the ethos of community: the interdependent gathering of folks who know that \u201cit takes a village\u201d to raise a barn, raise kids and raise a nation to greatness?<\/p>\n
After listening to Dr. Peck\u2019s lecture, I did some research on the Kingdom of God and discovered that scholars don\u2019t agree on how to interpret the biblical phrase. Some insist that the Kingdom of God is \u201cwithin you,\u201d while others assert that the Kingdom of God is \u201camong you.\u201d<\/p>\n