We're accustomed to thinking of Christmas as a commemoration, a day in which we remember the birth of Jesus. However, for those who personally lived the events of the first Christmas, that day was far more than a festival, far more than a time to exchange presents. It was a profound life experience.
The narrative in the Gospels about the birth of Jesus includes details that give us a glimpse of what this experience represented individually for each one involved in the nativity. For example, months before the birth, Mary had had to overcome doubt and fear when she found that she was expecting a baby fathered by the Holy Ghost. Joseph, for his part, being a person of integrity, may have struggled with pride and prejudice. But then he heard the message from the angel that told him to accept Mary and the child who would be born. Supported by the angel messages, these two grew spiritually and prepared themselves for the first Christmas.
When the couple did not find an inn in Bethlehem and they had to face the birth of their firstborn in a stable, they needed much trust in God and spiritual conviction about their divine mission. For them, the occasion must have been an experience of divine revelation, of spiritual victory, and of communion with God.
That day was far more than a festival.
For the shepherds, humble participants in this event, the experience of hearing the angelic message and becoming aware that the Messiah had come was surely profoundly moving. The simple fact of their having perceived the angels and believed them shows that they were alert, ready to receive the revelation. This mental attitude gave them the privilege of seeing prophecy fulfilled. After this, the memory of the event probably accompanied them for the rest of their lives and continued to influence their spiritual progress.
What can be said about the wise men? They had been preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah, reading prophecies and observing the stars. They had seen the rising of the Saviour's star, and when they came to Jerusalem, they started asking for directions to find him, catching the attention of King Herod. When they again saw the star, "they rejoiced with exceeding great joy," the Bible tells us. Matt. 2:10. And the experience of finding the baby Jesus must have elevated them spiritually. Divinely advised not to return to Herod, they heard the message and obeyed it. Although the Bible does not give us additional information about them, we cannot doubt that an experience so rich as the one they had this first Christmas would have remained in their memory and influenced their lives.
Is it possible that even now, 2,000 years later, we can make Christmas as profound and blessed a life experience as it was for these Bible characters? That we can receive, as they did, the blessing of spiritual revelation, which was, and is, at the very center of the mission of Christ Jesus? Yes, it is.
In our family some years ago, there were only a few weeks left before Christmas, and the climate of shopping, preparations, decorations, and rush had already begun. The advertising around us was proceeding at full steam, temptingly showing us everything that we should absolutely not be without at Christmas. My youngest son had, for days, been telling us everything he wanted to get as Christmas presents, and exacting promises on each item. This created a lot of tension, as it seemed that we would not be able to fulfill all these expectations.
Then, my son, who at the time was in preschool, woke one morning with his body covered in red spots. I learned that many cases of chickenpox had appeared in the city schools. I called a Christian Science practitioner, asking him to pray with us. I knew there was no law of God that enforced an epidemic or disease. On the contrary, Jesus had demonstrated through his works that the law of God is a powerful force in favor of health and well-being. Also, we had had various healings in our family through applying the teachings of Jesus as they are explained in Christian Science. So it was natural for us to turn to prayer in this instance.
I decided to understand better the spiritual progress Jesus' birth had provided to people of that time and to humanity in general.
The practitioner asked that my husband and I read the article entitled "Contagion" from the book Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy. A passage from this article caught my attention in a special way: "Floating with the popular current of mortal thought without questioning the reliability of its conclusions, we do what others do, believe what others believe, and say what others say. Common consent is contagious, and it makes disease catching." Mis., p. 228.
As I read the above passage, I realized that this mental contagion of anxiety about material things had to be healed. I decided to understand better, for myself, the true meaning of Christmas, the spiritual progress that event had provided to the people of that time and, later on, to humanity in general. Spiritual growth, I realized, was what really had to be a part of the festivities. And it was the only legitimate expectation for Christmas.
In this specific case, spiritual growth meant feeling as true the words of Christ Jesus in the New Testament about not being anxious or fearful about the body. Jesus said to his followers: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Matt. 6:28–30. To overcome anxiety in this way, replacing it with trust in the omnipresence of infinite good, God, was for me the best commemoration of Christmas.
I translated all this into words that would be accessible to a five-year-old child and talked about it with my son. I helped him see that God had already given him many good things and would continue to provide him with all the good he needed—in the form of happiness, peace, health, friendship, and much more. Neither we, as his parents, nor he needed to be worried with shopping and toys, with comparisons to other children, or with what the television was telling us about the holidays.
Our son slept well that night, and the next day he did not have the slightest trace of the disease. He went to school and participated in the normal end-of-the-school-year activities.
Every time we understand something more about the teachings of Christ Jesus and put it into practice, we feel in our lives how valuable for humanity the birth of that child was on that first Christmas. We behold the birth of a new spiritual idea, of a more elevated understanding, which brings peace and healing. We participate, in a way, in the same experience the shepherds, the wise men, and Joseph and Mary had. We learn something profound, as they did. And for this to happen, we don't need to wait for a special day of the year to arrive. We can have this experience every day.
Translated from Portuguese
