A few years ago I shared the following message at the annual Christmas Eve service that the Conversations with God Foundation has presented in Ashland, Oregon for the past 12 years…<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t sleep last night. I was up from 2 until 6, having another one of my Conversations with God.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me about Christmas,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat is it really all about?\u201d And I heard, \u201cWhat do you mean, what is it really all about? I\u2019ve told you a million times what it\u2019s all about.\u201d So I said, \u201cTell me again. I think I may have missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And suddenly my head was filled with a Christmas Carol \u2013 one of the happiest and most triumphant of all the melodies of Christmas. \u201cJoy to the world,\u201d the song began, \u201cthe Lord has come.\u201d But I couldn\u2019t get into it. I kept wondering,\u00a0what is joyful about the coming of someone who is going to be a lord over us?<\/p>\n
God! I said\u2026I don\u2019t understand this! And God replied, \u201cYou\u2019re right. You don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then God said, \u201cBut at least you\u2019re asking a question. And that\u2019s good. It\u2019s really hard to understand something if you think there are no more questions to ask. You can\u2019t be given an answer if you think you already have the only answer there is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have the answer,\u201d I admitted. \u201cSo what\u2019s the answer?\u201d And God said, \u201cThe answer is that the Lord\u2026.who has come\u2026.is not a lord\u00a0over\u00a0<\/em>you, but\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>you.\u201d<\/p>\n These words came to me at 2:57 this morning, and I pondered them in my heart.<\/p>\n \u201cThen,\u201d I ventured, \u201cthe Christmas season is not just a remembering of the birth of a Babe. This is also a celebration of the birth of the Christed one in\u00a0all\u00a0of us.\u201d<\/p>\n And God answered softly, \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n And then I wondered what all the songs, and all the messages, and all the feelings of Christmas would mean if I accepted this truth. If I really understood that the message of this season is not about one bless\u00e9d being, but about all beings, being bless\u00e9d.<\/p>\n Not about someone\u00a0else, but about\u00a0us. About\u00a0me. But oh my gosh, did that sound bad. I mean, it actually sounded like\u00a0blasphemy. How could Christmas be about\u00a0me<\/em>? Of all the self-centered, ego-maniacal thoughts! This is about the coming of the Lord! This is about the Gift of the Magi!<\/p>\n But, my heart insisted, what if the gift was me? And what if the Lord HAS come to be\u00a0in\u00a0me, not\u00a0over me?<\/p>\n I know that I can find a place for him\u00a0over\u00a0<\/em>me, but can I find a place for him\u00a0within\u00a0<\/em>me?<\/p>\n And what would it mean for me to do that? What would it mean for me to be not only a person who has been blessed, but a person who is\u00a0bless\u00e9d? And for me to think of\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>in the same way? What if I saw\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>as bless\u00e9d? Would I act differently toward you?<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to think I would. I\u2019d like to think that I would be more kind to you. More gentle with my words, more caring with my actions, more compassionate in my thoughts, more honest in my dealings, more patient and generous and\u2026and more\u00a0aware\u00a0of the wonder of you.<\/p>\n And if I thought that I was a bless\u00e9d person, would I act differently toward me?<\/p>\n I think I would. I think I\u2019d be more kind to myself. More gentle with my words, more caring with my actions. I think I\u2019d be more compassionate with myself, more patient and generous and\u2026and more\u00a0aware\u00a0of the wonder of ME.<\/p>\n But is it possible that we are\u00a0all\u00a0bless\u00e9d?<\/p>\n This I asked in the middle of the night, and the answer came back, stunningly, simply: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Soooo, I mused\u2026\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0is the meaning of Christmas. That\u2026 that which is Christed<\/em> is born in all<\/em> of us.\u00a0Lives in <\/em>all of us. Is<\/em> all of us. We simply do not remember this. And so, Christmas was created to remind us.<\/p>\n Christmas, it turns out, is not about a particular religion, but about all religions. It is not about a particular person, but about all persons. It does not matter whether you are Christian or Muslim, Hindu or Jew, Baptist or Buddhist. Or none of the above.<\/p>\n When you give birth to the lord\u00a0within\u00a0you, you give\u00a0life\u00a0to a wonder and a majesty and a wisdom and a love that can flow\u00a0from\u00a0you to all the world, and change the world forever.<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t this the Christmas Story?<\/p>\n And when we\u00a0live\u00a0this<\/em> story as\u00a0our\u00a0<\/em>story, are our lives not renewed, with our separated selves made whole?<\/p>\n Indeed. Our souls are stirred, our hearts are filled. And then it is\u00a0we\u00a0who bring\u2026joy to the world.<\/p>\n The gift of Christmas is\u00a0us<\/em>, fully expressed and fully realized. It is\u00a0us\u00a0\u2014 completely willing and totally ready \u2014 to love without condition, to give without restriction, to share without limitation, to create without fear, to celebrate ourselves without shame or embarrassment.<\/p>\n It is us<\/em>, choosing to forgive without hesitation, to help without being asked, to rush in where angels fear to tread. Indeed, to\u00a0lead the way\u00a0<\/em>for angels.<\/p>\n Ah, to lead the way for angels. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve come to the Earth. To be a herald!<\/p>\n Hark! The herald, angels sing. Glory to the newborn king.<\/p>\n At this moment we can give birth to the royalty within us\u2026the royalty that we\u00a0are\u00a0in God\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n You know, someone once said\u2026if\u00a0you\u00a0saw you as\u00a0God\u00a0sees you, you would smile a lot. Well, this moment, this Christmas Moment, is a time for smiles. For in this moment, if we really try, we can almost see ourselves as God see us. We can\u00a0feel\u00a0it.<\/p>\n You can feel it right now, in your heart. That feeling is called love. Your love for life, and all those you love\u00a0in\u00a0this life. And God\u2019s love for you.<\/p>\n The Magic of Christmas is that it gives us\u00a0permission\u00a0to take that feeling, to take that love, and share it with all those whose lives we touch.<\/p>\n With friend, and with stranger. With those who agree with us, and with those who disagree. With those who look and act like us, and with those who do not.<\/p>\n We are invited in this moment to feel this love, and to\u00a0give it permanent place within our heart. To be the source\u00a0of peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men and women everywhere.<\/p>\n We are invited in this moment to walk the Earth not only as one who is blessed<\/em>, but as one who is bless\u00e9d. Not only as the Lord of the manner, but in the manner of the Lord. For that is what we are. We are the lord of our inner kingdom, and thus, of the outer one as well. And when we understand that, everything changes. We begin to experience the world, and to\u00a0affect\u00a0the world, in a new way.<\/p>\n That is the Christmas invitation. We are invited to\u00a0begin\u00a0that experience in this moment. On this, and on every, silent night. And if we do, we will make every one of them a\u00a0holy\u00a0night. And we will begin to create a world in which all is calm. All is bright.<\/p>\n Joy to the world! The Lord has come. Let Earth receive her King. Let every heart\u2026prepare him room. And heaven, and nature,\u00a0sing!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Merry Christmas, everyone. Happy,\u00a0happy\u00a0<\/em>holidays!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few years ago I shared the following message at the annual Christmas Eve service that the Conversations with God Foundation has presented in Ashland, Oregon for the past 12 years… I couldn\u2019t sleep last night. I was up from 2 until 6, having another one of my Conversations with God. \u201cTell me about Christmas,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3318"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3320,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions\/3320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}