Kingdom of God – the sovereign rule of God.  That is what the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit are all about. They are designed not to take us away from this earth but rather to make us agents of the transformation of this earth, anticipating the day when, as we are promised, ‘the earth shall but full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’ N.T. Wright Surprised by Hope, p 201. I am reading the second  half again, after talking to Vicar Matt about it. The point of life.  I think the first time I read it I was not interested in the second part, but more in the debunking of old views. 9/17/11