Christmas can be a joyful time of celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus with family and friends. It can also be a challenging time. Focus on material gifts, social events or lack thereof, and whether or not things are going according to our plans would crowd out the inspiring Christmas message of “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
I’ve found that taking a deeper look at what’s at the heart of Christmas helps us clear out those entanglements. The Gospel of Matthew states, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (1:23).
Christ Jesus fulfilled that prophecy, revealing the spiritual fact that God, good, is ever present. Not as a physical god walking beside us to guard and guide us, but as divine Spirit – the one supreme power, one infinite presence, one Truth. God is good. We are all God’s children, and His children express His nature. Each of us is in reality the spiritual idea of God, not a material personality separate from Him.
Jesus once prayed that all who believe in Christ, Truth, “may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). My understanding of this prayer is that it is not a plea for God do something He neglected to do. It points to the freedom and unity inherent in the Christ message of God with us.
Our response to the action of Christ in our thinking has to do with how we choose to live our lives. Do we put God first through spiritual study and prayer? Do we turn to Him for direction? If yes, then we can better feel His love shepherding us.
The physical senses report many minds making mistakes, being divisive, and struggling with things going wrong. Yet the Christ is present right there to dispel discord, disruption, and sorrow as illusions – that is, as having no place in spiritual reality. In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual, – yea, the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death” (p. 332).
Celebrating Christmas can include celebrating that God and Christ are with us. Whether we’re walking, driving, cooking, visiting friends, entertaining family, or spending the season in solitude, we can do so in the light of Christ, letting the truth of God’s ever presence and goodness lead us forward.
One Christmas Eve, I found relying on Christ a great help in restoring my peace. I had parked in an underground garage and joined friends for a joy-filled dinner. When I returned to the garage later that night, my car wasn’t there. My first reaction was panic, but I reminded myself this was a time for holding on to the Christ message that God is always with us.
Quieting my thought and listening for God’s, divine Mind’s, direction gave me the peace of mind to find the garage’s security host. He was able to tell me exactly what had happened, gave me the name and address of the towing lot where I could find my car, and said I could hire a taxi at a nearby hotel.
I went to the towing lot and paid the fee, but my key was locked in the car and I didn’t have a spare with me. It came to me to ask if any of the staff knew how to open the locked car. One man said he would try, and indeed, he was able to do it. I gratefully thanked him, wished them all a Merry Christmas, and drove home thanking God.
What a joy to celebrate Christmas with the understanding that God is always with us, loving and caring for us, and that this is an eternal spiritual fact – even when circumstances seem otherwise. Christ, Truth, is always active, revealing the harmony and peace naturally ours as children of God. The message of Immanuel, “God with us,” is one of “peace on earth, good will toward men” for all of us – at Christmas and throughout the year.
