Book excerpt: It has been said that the eleven-o'clock hour on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week. In churches that tout Christian unity as the one quality essential to accomplishing God's will in the world, division still remains, the one quality that defines the place of the Church in the world today. That division is not limited to the varied members of the worshiping community but in leadership as well. Scripture, the record of our faith, tells the faithful that regardless of person, the varied gifts and talents that exist among us are the tools essential for building the beloved kingdom Those tools have been dispersed to the faithful who understand the importance of identifying the kingdom of heaven and pointing the way to it. In short, as Scripture describes it, "To make the path straight." Using the eight parables of Jesus that begin with the words "the kingdom of heaven is like" to describe heaven's nature and our place in it is the central focus of the book. The faithful of the Church over ages past understood the work to be carried out if God's will is to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That work is given to those, regardless of person, who acknowledge heaven as a place of eternal oneness and divine presence. Pointing to that place is the task given to the faithful that all humanity may know the reaches of a loving God. The God of creation has given gifts to the faithful to identify divine presence. The God of divine guidance has given talents to the faithful to illumine the way to that presence. The God of eternal salvation has given blessing to the faithful to help make the way a blessing to all, regardless of person!