The Kingdom Of Heaven...lies beyond us.

Beyond our hearts, and our Minds.
Thereforth lies it.
And behold, a true splendour, of pomp and glory.
For All Race, Religion -
no colour bounds you thence.
That seemed the message I received when watching the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" just now with Sean. An epic about the Crusades, it tries to portray compassion as the necessary virtue to win over the hearts and minds of people in a foreign land. Many noble men these days, of noble birth and status sadly are unable to live up to the stuff expounded in this film. To oft are we enwrapped in the trials of the modern world, to find time to show compassion - which is the essence of which God wants us to act. Yes, we may say that through actions like charity, and our thoughts being pure and chaste, our way to God is clearer. Do you agree with this? Do you agree with me?
I don't agree with this view. But many in the world still subscribe to it. You don't have to deny it outrightly. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The old granny who's been going to the temple since the day she learnt of her sins in her past life as a prostitute. The man who visits every single religious institution, and carries religious symbols and artifacts of every religion known to man - simply for the "just in case" factor which gnaws at all our consciences. Even as we pray, in our clean done-up suits and dresses, with ties "asserted by a modest pin", for redemption - don't you think it has an assertive tone to it? "PLEASE PLEASE God...take us away, from this world...into your Paradiso."
I'm not saying what we do in our various religions is wrong. Yet, what I do not agree with is the forcing of one's own beliefs onto others, and expecting the latter to comply, and accept whole-heartedly - even embracing at times - the former's beliefs. This was the case in the movie I saw. Though part fictional, the events of the Europeans forcefully entering Jerusalem and trying to convert all Muslims to Christianity did (sadly) indeed happen. And like the epilogue said..."Richard the Lionheart had an uneasy truce with the Arabs in Jerusalem"...A thousand years later, the Kingdom of Heaven still hangs in the balance - between the Palestines and the Israelis. When will this end? Maybe never. Or maybe, as the Chrisitian priest (who wasn't for cremating the bodies of the deceased) in the movie prophetically claimed (I paraphrase loosely here), "the bodies, once burnt, will not be able to be resurrected till the Second Coming".
"God is great, and worthy of our praise" - a line which seems universal whether it be said in Arabic, or in Christian languages (Hebrew, English, French, etc). Perhaps, we should see beyond the external, the transcendent concept of 'religion' - and occupy ourselves more with the idea of compassion, and applying the heart to things without. Its only then, can we truly (I feel) say we are God-loving - when we are able to see beyond the superficial bounds of race and religion, economic wealth, political power.
Till that day comes, when Utopia is reached, and idealism rules - compassion, and love of others before self - is the sole way we can keep a fragment of God within ourselves. Perhaps, we'll piece these shards together...one day.