The kingdom of God is a concept that is very important in both Judaism and Christianity. It is God’s reign over all things. In Judaism it is the promise that God will intervene for the people of Israel and return rule to the people. The Kingdom of God was expressly promised to King David, because he was a man “after God’s own heart”; and God made a covenant with David, promising there would “never lack a man to sit upon His throne, forever”. This means to believing Jews and Christians that descendants of David would rule for all eternity. The Kingdom of God in Christian belief is attained through a spiritual means and a close spiritual relationship with God. Christians are allowed to enter the kingdom through carrying out the laws of God and His will. This spiritual journey into the Kingdom is led by belief and strong faith of the humble. The Kingdom of God is also used interchangeably with the Kingdom of Heaven, where God reigns for all eternity. The Kingdom of God also refers to the changed state of heart or mind within Christians, emphasizing the spiritual nature of His Kingdom by saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within (or among) you.” I believe the Kingdom of God is present on Xavier’s Campus. I say this because I see so many people trying to live a humble, righteous life. I see a lot of organizations helping others and trying to uplift the community. In this class alone with all of the positive projects that the students are carrying out the Kingdom of God is ever present. The office of Campus Ministry is one of the most valuable departments on this campus because it promotes spirituality and the things that it takes to come into the Kingdom of God and His presence. The ministers of campus ministry including peer ministers take the time to listen to students and their problems with spirituality, and offer advice to how they can be better people, not just Catholics or Christians are whatever religion you are. They attempt to make people better as a whole regardless of religion. In my personal project I think the kingdom of God relates very well because not only am I trying to empower women and change their image economically but also helping girls to live a righteous and upright single life is all apart of gaining the Kingdom of Heaven. Grant it women will be economically more powerful through my project but they will also be a step closer to the kingdom of heaven by living a life of self respect and high esteem. The body is supposed to be the temple of God and when girls realize their self worth and recognize the God within them then they can truly change the images in the world put upon them. Jesus was counter-cultural because he not only ministered to the wealthy and high esteemed but he ran with what we would call the slums of the earth, prostitutes, tax collectors, gamblers, etc. I think this was because these were the people who needed him the most. These people needed to be saved from themselves and their sin and see a way of life that could lead them to the Kingdom of God. In a way my project is counter cultural because there are many income levels of the girls at the MAX school. I say this because you can see it through how they communicate. Those with more income in their homes have internet access and cell phones, and girls with lower income households have home phones or need to meet in person. I also say this project is counter cultural because it is not targeted to just one race of women but to all women. Though it is targeted toward multi races it is primarily an African-American project. In the future when I start my non-profit organization it will target women in general not just African Americans. The beatitudes directly relates to my project because like the beatitudes it gives these girls the right attitude toward life and their spirituality in regard to their career choices. Giving these girls advice on living the single life and living so with self respect and self esteem is the right way to live. I think the beatitudes are relative to the project in that the right attitude and confidence level is given to the girls. My parable on my progress in the class so far: There once lived a girl in a far away village who loved to read and write stories. In a village in a nearby city lived a young boy who also loved to read and write stories. The girl would write poetry and songs about her life in the village. She would take it to the market place and read aloud to the children. The boy never let anyone see or read his works. While he was writing one day the boys parents asked him to go to a nearby market for some things. He immediately stopped writing and did as his parents asked. While there he saw the girl reading her poetry aloud. He joined a group of children and started to listen. When she finished she asked if there was anyone that wanted to share a story, the boy thinking to himself, wanted to read one of his stories but was too afraid. He didn’t volunteer to read and the story time was over. He never got the chance to read his stories because there was never a real need for him to return to the village marketplace. I think this lil story relates to my progress because at heart I do love to read and write but sometimes I am afraid of what people will say about my writing and stories so I keep them to myself. This class has helped me overcome some of these fears because it was just out right required that others view and see my writing. I don’t know if this parable was relative but it made pretty food sense to me.

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