The Meaning of Christmas

December 24, 1998

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

Psalms

We chose our topic to try to get a living experience of the energies embodied in Christmas. Some of us recalled how we felt when we still believed in Santa Claus and wondered whether an adult version of those good feelings was possible.

Working and praying with the topic during the week we found the winter solstice an anciently rich repository of race myths and fantasies. This darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere gave rise to the saturnalia or outbursts of drunkenness and licentiousness to ward off the depression and doubt. It also encouraged the more conventionally pious to establish days of worship for their sun gods like Mithras, whose birthday, December 25, was passed on to Jesus. The dual nature of even the most ancient festivities around this solstice emboldened us to look at both the light and the dark side of the Jesus-Judas story and to ride out more comfortably and understandingly the modern equivalents of these energies. Whether a concept appears as a Jesus or Judas, it is both on the human belief level and must ultimately surrender to the Christ or divine idea.

We all agreed that care must be taken here as it seems quite inadvisable for anyone to live out his darker fantasies without a full understanding of their import and meaning. We strive for access to these drives which, when buried in the unconscious, can move us in ways unbidden.

For us as students of Christian Science, the point seems to be to have a full appreciation of the Jesus and Judas of any issue — thereby effecting a kind of human wholeness — before moving along to the real Wholeness or presence of the Christ.

Some interesting experiences were reported this week. They all partook of the energies in the Christ Jesus phenomenon. One member keeps quoting Margaret Laird, "In the physical the metaphysical is the physical." These all illustrate the statement.

  • One member, after trying passionately to get some feelings up about the holidays, found himself with quite a pain in his back or chest — he couldn't tell which. He wriggled around trying to dissipate it and got quite fearful. Finally he thought, "This could be life threatening." Suddenly he saw whatever life was threatened was a dualistic human version of the Life divine — he let that go and allowed Life, God to be the only Life. Fear fell away, he felt much better. In recounting this to a dear non-Christian Scientist friend later, he said to our member, "You have a wonderful constitution which just will not bend to any bad memories or conditions." Our member said, "In case you've ever wondered about so-called Christian Science treatment, you just gave me one!" The two had had difficulties communicating about this area before, so greater closeness was forged.
  • Another member has had a really tough time with depression and in despair gave up washing her hair a few weeks back. She seemed unable to give spirited treatment to the situation but did cling to the thought that God would show the way out of the problem. The reaction of others in the group was interesting — there was some judgmentalism but also concern that we not mar her own demonstration with invasive tidy-mindedness. Finally, one member offered to help wash, comb and cut the hair. Coming at this season it was a boost to all in the group.
  • One member remarked on how he and others had done a lot of "passing by on the other side". This is a bit unfair, perhaps, because we had not been through something like this before and we had in our own ways encouraged and prayed.
  • Another member heard a friend describe an "intervention" with an old decrepit drunk in the subway as two men bent low over him, cradled his crumpled body and spoke caringly to him. One even kissed his white-bearded face.
  • Another member talked of how he prayerfully handled the impeachment vote and the bombing of Iraq. He described it as riding loose in the saddle — just persisting in knowing that the Presidency is entirely divine, whatever the appearances, and that Peace is what is being identified. Basically, it was about getting beyond the dualistic presentation to the divinity just at hand and living that. To paraphrase Mrs. Laird above, "In the Jesus, the Christ is the only Jesus".
We'll look at Renewal next week to celebrate the New Year.

The Bible

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy

The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.

XIII. The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is without beginning of years or end of days. Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea,—the reflection of God,—has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth.

Jesus was the highest human concept of the perfect man. He was inseparable from Christ, the Messiah,—the divine idea of God outside the flesh.

Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy

This year, my beloved Christian Scientists, you must grant me my request that I be permitted total exemption from Christmas gifts. Also I beg to send to you all a deep-drawn, heartfelt breath of thanks for those things of beauty and use forming themselves in your thoughts to send to your Leader. Thus may I close the door of mind on this subject, and open the volume of Life on the pure pages of impersonal presents, pleasures, achievements, and aid.

An eternal Christmas would make matter an alien save as phenomenon, and matter would reverentially withdraw itself before Mind. The despotism of material sense or the flesh would flee before such reality, to make room for substance, and the shadow of frivolity and the inaccuracy of material sense would disappear.

In Christian Science, Christmas stands for the real, the absolute and eternal,—for the things of Spirit, not of matter. Science is divine; it hath no partnership with human means and ends, no half-way stations. Nothing conditional or material belongs to it. Human reason and philosophy may pursue paths devious, the line of liquids, the lure of gold, the doubtful sense that falls short of substance, the things hoped for and the evidence unseen.

Christmas to me is the reminder of God's great gift,—His spiritual idea, man and the universe,—a gift which so transcends mortal, material, sensual giving that the merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mockery in mimicry of the real worship in commemoration of Christ's coming.

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing.

The sweet and sacred sense of the permanence of man's unity with his Maker can illumine our present being with a continual presence and power of good, opening wide the portal from death into Life; and when this Life shall appear "we shall be like Him," and we shall go to the Father, not through death, but through Life; not through error, but through Truth.

Jesus came to earth; but the Christ (that is, the divine idea of the divine Principle which made heaven and earth) was never absent from the earth and heaven; hence the phraseology of Jesus, who spoke of the Christ as one who came down from heaven, yet as "the Son of man which is in heaven." (John iii. 13.) By this we understand Christ to be the divine idea brought to the flesh in the son of Mary.

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