“The Kingdom of Heaven”, said the Lord Christ, “is among you.” But
what, precisely, is the Kingdom of Heaven? You cannot point to
existing specimens, saying, “Lo, here!” or “Lo, there!” You can only
experience it. But what is it like, so that when we experience it we
may recognize it?

Well, it is a change, like being born again and relearning everything
from the start. It is secret, living power — like yeast. It is
something that grows, like seed. It is precious like buried treasure,
like a rich pearl, and you have to pay for it.

It is a sharp cleavage through the rich jumble of things which life
presents: like fish and rubbish in a draw-net, like wheat and tares;
like wisdom and folly; and it carries with it a kind of menacing
finality; it is new, yet in a sense it was always there — like turning
out a cupboard and finding there your own childhood as well as your
present self; it makes demands, it is like an invitation to a royal
banquet — gratifying, but not to be disregarded, and you have to live
up to it; where it is equal, it seems unjust; where it is just it is
clearly not equal — as with the single pound, the diverse talents, the
labourers in the vineyard, you have what you bargained for.

It knows no compromise between an uncalculating mercy and a terrible
justice — like the unmerciful servant, you get what you give; it is
helpless in your hands like the King’s Son, but if you slay it, it will
judge you; it was from the foundations of the world; it is to come; it
is here and now; it is within you. It is recorded that the multitudes
sometimes failed to understand.

… Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), The Poetry of Search