Right now, across the globe, there is a great focus on Christmas, including a particular emphasis on the tradition of gifts and gift-giving. It would seem there has been a shift away from the Christ in Christmas, toward commerce, as the measure of a successful holiday season is calculated in revenue rather than the amount of peace on earth and universal goodwill. Yet, isn’t the gift most needed today the message of the Christ? It is the divine goodness Jesus lived and preached that enables one, during this holiday season and all year long, to know and express the essence of the greatest gift: God’s gift of life—that is, one’s life based in God, who is Life itself and the source of all true being.
God, as divine Life, expresses spiritual qualities such as vitality, generosity, and thoughtfulness in every individual. In the Bible, we read that this is possible because God’s power is not limited: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1). How could God ever express less than the might of infinite, immortal Life?
Christ Jesus illustrated the present possibility of understanding, seeing, and demonstrating the full nature of eternal spiritual life. By showing us the higher, holier, more spiritual basis of living, he gave us the gift of knowing more about God and the true nature of ourselves and others as God’s spiritual reflection. With this understanding we can express, to some degree, the dominion Jesus demonstrated in challenging, rebuking, and destroying any belief in a power opposed to God, whether it be called sickness in whatever form; sin, including immorality, hatred, and self-centered ambition; or death, including physical, mental, or moral death.
