Mystic Meanings of Christmas

Transcription

1 Mystic Meanings of Christmas From my new book of wisdom: At Sunday dinner Grandma Melba asked her grandson Buster what he learned in Sunday school that morning. Buster was eager to tell the story of how Moses led the Israelites to safety from the pursuing soldiers of the Pharaoh s army. Buster said that Moses used a golden megaphone to warn all the Israelites to flee Egypt. Then, he said, Moses hired engineers and real fast workers to build a bridge over the Red Sea. Once all the Israelites got over, Moses blew up the bridge, killing all the soldiers. Grandma just about fell out of her chair. She leaned over and said, Is that how your teacher told the story? Naw Buster said, But if I told it her way you d never believe me. The Bible is not the only source of unbelievable stories. Greek and Egyptian Mythology, Jataka tales, the Indigenous stories Rob Aptaker and Scott tell, fables and legends in every language and culture, all stretch the limits of believability, if you are trying to look to understanding them at the literal level. If the only understanding you bring is what we know from our five senses and if the only truth is what we can prove in our material world, then these stories seem meaningless because of their impossibility. But then why are they so prevalent? I have come to believe that the stories, individually and collectively, drive us to an understanding that there is more to life than the material world. Many of the stories arise from a human need to try to explain the phenomenal world and the world of human behavior. Humans have reflective thought and it is a skill we have come to rely upon. We don t have claws or tough skin or really sharp teeth. We are not particularly fast compared to our animal brothers and sisters and we can t fly. We rely upon our minds to survive. And now, it is perhaps our minds undisciplined that will lead to our demise. But back to the stories. Many of the stories have common themes, as if the idea is in the ethers and individuals simply drew that idea into their own culture of language. So if the stories are not intended to be literal, and if they can t really provide a satisfactory explanation for scientific and reasoning minds, how are they to be used? I believe they are to invite us into mystery and into relationship with the energy that transcends our reasoning minds. It is to open our hearts and move us into greater balance between our head and heart; to move us into using all the faculties available to us and to acknowledge all those faculties. 1

2 The stories of Jesus are very similar to the Greek mythology of Dionysus and before that, the Egyptian mythology of Osiris and the baby Horus, born of the virgin Isis. But today I would like to focus on three aspects of the story of Jesus birth as we find them in the Gospels. Unity teaches that the Bible is not meant to be literal but that it is metaphysical, or the meaning is beyond the language. Traditional metaphysical interpretation utilizes metaphors and symbols that are defined. Today I will use some of those and what is in my heart; what Spirit has been speaking to me through these stories. Let s begin with the shepherds in the field, startled by a heavenly host, or gang of angels, who speak to them. Metaphysically, Angels are messengers from God or as Charles Fillmore says in the Revealing Word: the projection into consciousness of a spiritual idea direct from the Fountainhead, Jehovah Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" This part of the story appears in Luke s second chapter. And we know that the author of Luke was educated and probably Greek and his mission in writing was to tell a story of inclusion. And that, for me, is the mystic message of the interaction between the shepherds and the angels; that the good news, the great joy of spirituality is not for the chosen few. It is for all people. All people means whatever you look like, however you live your life, whatever education or economic situation you are in, you have access to a relationship with the Infinite Divine. The great joy and peace is yours if you seek it. The second part of this story is that we have to do something to find the Divine, to cultivate our relationship. You will find is a promise AND an invitation to seek. Not everyone says yes to the invitation to develop a relationship with the mystery of the Divine. But the invitation is for everyone. Now the angels did not direct the shepherds. They didn t say, Now off with you. Get over to Bethlehem. But the shepherds chose to go. Every part of our spiritual journey is a choice. The story in Luke says to me my choices should not be based on whether or not I feel worthy. It is simply whether or not I desire the peace and joy promised. 2

3 The second aspect of the story I want to look at is the wise men. Notice I did not say three wise men or three kings. Details! There is no mention of numbers although there were three gifts enumerated and modern interpretations give no mention of royalty. And of course, it is possible they were women or some of them were women but the authors conveniently left that out. Or, of course, it is possible none of this happened. The story of the wise men appears in Matthew. We believe the author of Matthew was Jewish and he was quite intent on crafting a story that portrays Jesus as the Messiah prophesized in the Torah, a new and improved Moses. So perhaps the story is nothing more than made up evidence. But since we have the story, what might it lead us to? Matthew s second chapter begins, In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." Fillmore, in the Revealing Word, says that East represents within. Men represent intellect. Yet the wise men do not rely only upon intellect. They have navigated using a star, which is not that unusual in that time but how did they know which star? After a sneaky interaction with Herod, the story continues, When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. So here is the meaning I take from this part of the nativity story: Intellect must pay homage to and must serve my spiritual nature. And my inner wisdom must allow guidance to direct it. The star and the dream both guided the wise men. There are inner and outer signs for me which are part of my wisdom if I allow them to guide me. I have to be attuned to these and open to responding to the guidance I have. I have to discern what messages are for me, just as the wise men had to discern which star to follow. When I use my wisdom in alignment with Spirit, I can offer my best gifts, the best of how Spirit expresses through me. 3

4 The third and final aspect of the story I want to explore is the virgin birth. Now for those of us trained in biology, this is the hardest to understand and accept. The literalists would have us believe that unless we accept this improbability we lack true faith and that the virgin birth of Jesus is not only the only time it s happened but the irrefutable evidence that he was the Messiah. There are other stories of virgin births. Joseph Campbell, author of much study of the meanings in mythology and how we use them, says the virgin birth represents the birth of spiritual man out of animal man. Chuck, or Charles Fillmore, for a guy who is so specific, goes very vague on the issue of virginity. In talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary he says that Mary represents the soul, which believes in the so-called miraculous as a possibility. Matthew hints that Mary was a virgin by saying she and Joseph were betrothed but hadn t lived together. One meaning of virgin is untouched, as in virgin forest. Luke is the author who is most adamant about the virginity. Her virginity is, in fact, a point of confusion for Mary who questions the angel Gabriel s news that she will follow her elder cousin Elizabeth and give birth. Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" I guess believing in the possibility of the miraculous takes a minute to develop. For me, the virgin birth is not literal but is the deepest point in our relationship with the Divine and the embedded mystery of our divinity. It is also the most difficult to articulate. Our Christ consciousness arises or is birthed in those moments when we are untouched by the reign of our humanity. We let go of seeking to know our divinity as a way to get something or as a measure of our intellect. We allow our divinity to be revealed without having to know where it came from or how it was woven into the tapestry of our humanity. We simply know it. And in that knowing is our power, our connection to the truth of who we are, the I AM. And in that knowing is our joy. The angels tell the shepherds it is a message of great joy. The wise men were filled with joy when the star stopped and they found the mother and child. Mary understands her task and rejoices in God. In the four Sundays of Advent, Joy is the final Sunday. It is the exalted feeling of knowing our true identity and allowing it expression in our life. It is the humble peace of being who we were created to be, an expression of love. 4

5 The stories of the Nativity are not real to me in historical or logical detail or whether or not they ever occurred. They are real to me in meaning and message. They are real to me as a path to understanding my ability to connect with the truth of my beingness and bring that into fuller expression. This holiday season, amid the legends and lore and traditions, I invite you to begin to connect with what meaning they have for you. In understanding the meaning, we will truly find the gifts of Christmas; hope, peace, love and joy. 5