“We all see our lives as having a certain moral/spiritual shape.  Somewhere in some activity, or condition, lies a fullness, a richness, that is, in that place, life is fuller, richer, deeper, more what it should be.  This is perhaps a place of power.  We often experience this as deeply moving or inspiring.   We have the powerful intuition of what fullness would be, were we to be in that condition for example of peace or wholeness of integrity or generosity or self-forgetfulness.  Sometimes there will be moments of experienced fullness, of joy and fulfillment.” – A Seculare Age” by Charles Taylor

John 10:10

My purpose is to give you life in all its fullness.

Mark 4:1-25

The Parable of the Sower ¹ Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

 ⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

 ¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables ¹² so that,

   “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
   and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’^[a]”

 ¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” A Lamp on a Stand

 ²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

   ²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

The secret of the Kingdom of God is connecting with Jesus.

What did those that got the “secret of the kingdom of God get?”

They get the explanation of the parable, but more importantly, they get a  relationship with Jesus.

Practical considerations on how to visit the place of fullness.

1. Look at the Kingdom of God as lived experience.

2. Consider being part of creating places of ‘fullness.’