"Last Sunday, my friends," he said, "we were talking together about the first petition in that prayer which you say so often at church or chapel: 'Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.' Now, to-day I want to speak to you about the second petition of that prayer: 'Thy kingdom come.' And first let us ask what is meant by a kingdom? What do you understand now that a kingdom is?"
He paused and awaited an answer; but the question was a difficult one to his hearers, and though several of the rough, honest faces before him looked thoughtful, as if they were considering the matter, no one ventured a reply.
"We often use the word kingdom, do we not," he went on, "in speaking of the country or countries over which a king or queen rules? We speak, for instance, of 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.' But the word is sometimes used to represent the power and sovereignty of a king, and sometimes, too, it means the living beings, the human hearts over which he reigns. Now, I think there is somewhat of all three meanings included in this petition. 'Thy kingdom come;' whose kingdom do we mean when we say this?"
"God's," answered a young girl standing near Beryl.
"Yes, it is the kingdom of God; and what is the relation God bears to us? What were we talking about last Sunday?"
"'Our Father, which art in heaven,'" said a sad-faced woman with a baby in her arms.
"Yes, you have given us the answer, my friend," said the speaker, looking kindly at her. "Jesus taught us that God is our Father; so you see it is our Father's kingdom that we pray may come. God is at once our Father and our King. Think for a moment what it is to have a King who is our Father. I remember that when I was a boy, and had lessons to do, I was constantly finding in my books this sentence: 'A good king is the father of his people.' Now, that is a grand description of what a king should be, because it is founded on the Divine idea of kingship."
"But how imperfectly can this be realised by any earthly monarch. We are proud of our Queen Victoria, are we not? We think her one of the best of sovereigns. But it is not possible that she can take a parent's interest in all our homely needs and daily anxieties. I dare say that if any of the great men of her court should tell her that you fisher-folk of Egloshayle were in sore distress from famine or fever, and needed her succour and sympathy, her kind heart would prompt her to send immediately to your relief; but you might suffer a thousand ills of which she would never hear."
"Not so is it with our Father-King. He is with you in your homes, and knows the weight of each burden of care which lies so heavily on your hearts. Nothing escapes His knowledge. He knows how you are tried when the weather makes fishing impossible, or when your nets are lost and your boats wrecked, and the gaunt wolf of want comes nearer and nearer to your door. Then He knows and pities, and He will send you help, if only you will trust Him as a Father should be trusted."
"Well, it is our Father's kingdom, then, that we pray for; and if we are good and loving children, we shall take a great interest, shall we not, in our Father's kingdom? The Prince of Wales, your Duke of Cornwall, of whom you are proud, and all the other children of the Queen, take a great interest in their mother's kingdom. And why? Is it not because in being her kingdom it is also theirs? They belong to the kingdom and the kingdom belongs to them. And so it is with us. We are not merely the subjects of God's kingdom, but the children of that kingdom."