I would like to share a few thoughts about the feast of Christmas in this blog. Later in the week, I would like to share thoughts about the arrival of 2010.
The first thought that comes to my mind, is that Christmas is a birthday celebration. A Birthday, is both a special event in and of itself, and it is a marker on our path of life.
Birthday as a special event, marks our transition from our mother’s womb, where our physical form develops, into a physical manifestation of our spirit on planet earth. A birthday also marks an anniversary of our coming into physical form. Although time and space only exist while we are in physical form on this planet, a birthday acts as a significant marker in our life. It could be a time to become spirit minded, that is reconnect with our spirit, reconnect with our thoughts, our feelings and renew, refresh or change our choices, for the time that we have on this planet.
I would like to point out that the seeds of a birthday develop well before we pop out from our mom.
When I teach, I ask my students some pre-birthday questions.Where does our sense of self begin? With whom do we have our first relationship? The students really wrestle with these questions and come up with some interesting answers which usually include responses such as, at conception, or at birth. In terms of relationship, the students usually state that our first relationship is with our mother or mother-figure. The students give me interesting glances when I ask them if it is possible that we existed prior to the romantic moment when our parents made love, and the egg and sperm got together to do their dance and become one. That one eventually develops into our physical body. I get even stranger glances when I suggest that we chose the moment to come into existence, to whom we would be born (i.e. our parents, family), our life circumstances, our mission while we are in physical form, and set forth vibrations to attract all of the people whom we will encounter. I add that our first relationship is not with our mother. Although mothers are very important, our first relationship I would suggest is a dual relationship; we are in a relationship with ourselves and with Source Energy (God).
I do agree with Abraham-Hicks(Abraham and Hicks 2009) that the purpose of our birth is to come into physical manifestation on our planet in order to fulfill our desires and to expand the universe. Prior to birth, only the positive intentions to live an exciting life and contribute to the expansion of physical reality, exist. Once we emerge from the nourishing enclosure of our mother’s womb, however, all that we may experience may not be positive energy. There is much noise, much misinformation spread by allowing negative emotions to develop and grow. These negative emotions cause us to be distracted from our original intentions to be creative and to make the world a better place, to have fun and to expand reality as we know it. Some people in their fear, place self, namely themselves, at the center of things and begin to accumulate possessions for their own use without being concerned with or connected to Source or to others.
How is all of this related to Christmas, I am glad that you asked, I will share how I relate all of this to Christmas. Christmas is the birthday of a man called Jesus. Christianity teaches us that Jesus is special, he is a God-man. He is the intimate connection between God and man. He is the son of God the father. This relationship speaks of a close relationship between a child and a parent. He is also infused with the Holy Spirit. It is difficult to talk about God in words, so the gospel writers used relationship concepts that could be understood in human terms.
Christians all over the world, celebrate the specialness of Jesus’ birth. Non-Christians celebrate the spirit of Christmas, namely, like Christians, they come together for the sharing of food or gifts in the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Why do we remember Jesus’ birth over 2,000 years after Jesus’ return to spirit? Perhaps it is because of the person that Jesus was. Some people have trouble seeing Jesus as both God and as man. More significantly, people had trouble accepting Jesus because he was a radical human being. Even more significantly, we still celebrate his birthday because of his lifestyle and the message or witness that he gave us. He didn’t lose focus of why he was born and came to our planet. From my perspective, Jesus was a man who had 2 basic messages for us. First, each of us are called to an intimate relationship with Source Energy (God) whether we wish to acknowledge the connection or not. Second, the only reason we are here is to seek fulfillment of our human and spiritual potential by being open to all that exists, following our desires, acknowledging Source Energy (God) and loving others as we love ourselves.
Jesus was a leader. Jesus was a witness to a greater reality. Jesus through his actions challenged us to live without fear, to offer our special unique talents without reservation. Most importantly, if you follow his life, he did not go by the superficial elements of our world, namely title, ego or physical trappings. He was open to all, most especially to those who had faith and chose not to be afraid to be themselves. He had the courage to be himself and not be controlled by the religious leaders of the time and the dictates of the Roman Empire. Both the religious leaders and the temporal leaders were exclusively focused on the physical dimension, status, ego, power and money. He remind them that life was not about what they preached but rather about sharing, loving, expanding life and recognizing that all people are important. So, as a radical person, who combined the divine and the physical, He chose to live life fully and ask us to live life fully by getting in touch with our inner voice and the voice within us that is connected to Source Energy (God). Only by connecting with Source energy can we be truly ourselves, truly be creative and leave the world a better place because of our journey through life. Rules are created by many groups to guide others, but Jesus’ witness was, that when we work together with Source energy, Spirit, in all it’s manifestations, will guide us along the path that is unique to us. Jesus was not afraid to witness to living a loving life. The religious and earthly rulers that existed at Jesus’ time felt so threatened by this spiritual, loving person and his witness so bad that they murdered him. Jesus knew that death was just a shadow, that we are spirit in physical form and that death is not the end, just a return to spirit.
Celebrating Christmas, is not just honoring a radical human being, named Jesus. Christmas is a reminder of the true purpose of life that Jesus called to our attention, namely to connect with Source Energy (God) and to love ourselves, and to love others by sharing food or gifts.
I am happy to Celebrate Christmas, I am grateful for Jesus’ witness and call to a higher level.
Merry Christmas to All !!!
Copyright 2009 Ralph M. Ferraro
Bibliography Abraham and E. J. Hicks (2009). The Vortex: Where the law of attraction assembles all cooperative relationships. New York City, Hay House.
