Christmas is a beautiful and sacred time. As I meditated today, I marveled at how this time of year and this day, brings so many people around the world together, why this will always be so, why this holy day has such a myriad of meanings for us all, and what it means to me:
- The birth of a child – a holy child – of every new child – is a time that symbolizes excitement and expectancy, waiting and preparation. It is a time of hope, of new beginnings. With the coming of Christ, many anticipated the physical birthing of absolution and grace. Christmas is preceded by “Advent”, derived from the Latin word “adventus”, meaning “coming”. The word also means, “arrival”, “appearance”, “dawn”, “birth”, “rise”. This season is a time of celebration of hope and looking towards the new beginnings in every aspect of our lives.
- Christmas holds so many deeply spiritual meanings – this is the time of year when we celebrate the Son of God being born into a human body, and the knowing that this continued presence lives with and in us today through Holy Spirit. The word “Spirit” itself is defined as “supernatural essence”, “the non-physical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul”… with the Indo-European root meaning “to breathe”. The etymological roots of the word “breathe” intersect with the word “Inspire”, which means “to breathe life into”. When God breathed life into His Son, as he has in each of us, “we are imbued with divine influence, qualifying us to receive and communicate sacred revelation, sacred ideas, sacred integration and sacred inspiration.”
- Much like the three wise men followed the star to find the baby Christ, this time of year is a reminder of how important it is to believe in something. When you believe in something, your natural inclination is to move towards that which you desire. And as you move towards what you believe in and desire, the path, circumstances and weather will change – even your idea of the thing you’re moving towards might change, but always move towards your desire…follow your star, and keep your eyes on that vision no matter what.
- You might think something you desire is being kept from you, or you might be working hard for something and wondering why it’s not coming together. You might desire a relationship with your soulmate and wonder if that person will ever come. You might have had something happen where you might be shunned by others, abandoned, or feel lost. You might have had a setback or a “failure”; or you might be in danger and not even know it, yet some larger force might be maneuvering something for your good. Maybe you feel like all is lost, yet in the midst of that feeling of being lost, something has already found you, but you can’t see the whole picture yet. This time is a reminder to allow blessings to travel to you. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the three wise men – named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar – followed the star of Bethlehem across the desert to meet the baby Jesus. They were sent by Herod to find out where the baby Jesus was and to let him know, as Herod wanted to kill any future king and this baby was a huge threat to him. When the three wise men saw the baby, they worshipped him and offered gifts instead – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gifts were symbolic of the importance of Jesus’ birth, the gold representing his royal standing; frankincense his divine birth; and myrrh his mortality. Be reminded of your own spiritual re-birth in your human temple, your divinity and your royal standing as a child of God.
- Herod had asked the three wise men to find the baby Jesus and report the location of the newborn baby, but the men, the “magi”, had been warned in a dream not to do so, instead of going back to report back to Herod, they took a different route home. Their intuition most likely saved the life of a baby whose birth has given so many hope, new beginnings, and new life. Intuition is one of our greatest gifts. It is the spiritual magic something we are all born with. Some embrace this gifts, some have the belief that they’re “ordinary” and look outside of themselves for answers, others hone this gift and use it to guide others. The magi trusted their intuition enough to take a whole different route. Following their intuition changed the lives of generations of people. Imagine if they had chosen to ignore that gut feeling? Sometimes, our gut tells us something we can’t explain, no one understands, people think we’re crazy, others can’t see what you see, or you may have had to change your direction entirely. Trust your gut, it never lies and it could save or give you new life.
- Some think that it’s a new age thing, but in fact, manifestation is a supernatural energy that goes back to the beginning of time. Epiphany, which follows Christmas, is the 12th day of Christmas this season. The word ‘Epiphany’ comes from Greek language and means ‘manifestation’, manifestation of the Divine. In the context of Christmas, epiphany, means that God is here, the divine is here, creation is here, and you, supernatural, divine you, are here. And, as we celebrate God’s manifestation through Jesus Christ, that same power, that same eternal, that same ever-living, that same supernatural lives in you.
God is Here and he lives in you. Remember…that divine incarnation, inspiration, intuition and manifestation lives in you.