I Wish You a Merry Christmas - Here's why...

“Why do you celebrate Christmas Derek, if you don’t believe in Jesus?”

As a ministerial student in the New Thought movement, that’s a question I have heard more than once.  Including from my late mother, a devout Christian who lamented that I have “turned my back on Jesus”.

The answer is both simple and complex.

The simple answer is that I DO believe in Jesus.  I believe he was born in Bethlehem a little more than 2,000 years ago.  I DO believe he was a son of God.  However, in our teaching Jesus was not the great exception, he was the great example. 

What does that mean?  I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I need to point out something I was taught as a child, but I no longer hold to be true.

Jesus is the only son of God, put here on earth to absolve us of our sins.

Okay for one thing, I don’t’ think he was the only son of God.  I believe we are ALL children of God.  But I prefer not to use the word “God”.  For me that conjures up the image of a man with a white beard sitting on a cloud. Someone who is very judgmental, answering some people’s prayers, and not others.   I prefer to call It “Creative Intelligence” or “Universal Intelligence”, or simply “Spirit”.  Titles aren’t important.  There is some form of intelligence that created the universe, and everything contained in it, including you and me.  

For another thing, I refuse to believe that we are all born sinners.  We are given volition to make our own decisions.  Those decisions have real-world consequences, some good, some bad.  But I simply cannot believe there was a single baby who emerged from the womb as a sinner. 

Now what do I mean that Jesus is not the great exception, but instead the great example?  What made him special was his faith.  He believed that he was powerful enough to heal the sick, and to walk on water.  I believe that at our very core we are all Divine beings, and we all have access to that kind of power.  What we lack is faith in ourselves, we let our self doubt get in our way.  Jesus was so enlightened he was able to rid himself of all doubt. He understood what he was capable of, and he just did it.

There is a philosophical question along the lines of “If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would you choose, and why?” 

My answer has always been Jesus. 

Why?  Because I want to ask him where we went wrong.  How did his belief in forgiveness, his encouragement to “love thy neighbour as thyself” become a reason to go to war.? What was his real message before it was misinterpreted; used and abused over the centuries by men (yes, they were almost all men) to retain their power over the masses.  To control the people by literally putting the fear of God in them. 

So, my answer is “I celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.”  Peace on Earth.  Goodwill to all. Sharing the love that we all have at our core, the Love that is our very essence, with those who need it most.

 I’m certain that if we ever did have that dinner party, that’s what Jesus would tell me he intended. 

So, in that spirit, I say to you all Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever tradition you may follow.  (As complicated or uncomplicated as it may be for you).

Please know that you are loved, and that you are love. 

Together let’s make a world that works for everyone and all creation. 

Just like Jesus wants us to.

Namaste

Derek