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The Christmas story - and
everything that has been claimed
about Jesus as revealing the
Truth of His and our Son-ship -
has always been believable to me,
and I am glad to find today that
in my 90th year it has always
been the Truth and not
necessarily the facts that I have
believed and still believe!
I realize that many persons
are bothered about the facts of
Jesus' birth, starting with the
Virgin Birth and continuing on
with what has often been referred
to as "just a myth". So last
month I began to think about
writing to you in terms of what
if ir were true? It was James
Dillet Freeman's "CHRISTMAS IS A
WONDER" reprinted in the
Nov.-Dec. issue of Unity Magazine
that started my thinking in this
vein. Here is a little of what he
wrote:
- Christmas is not
getting things, because
Christmas is not things at
all. Christmas is a wonder.
And it is for
wonder.
- Christmas is
believing.
- Christmas is hoping.
- Christmas is
dreaming.
- It is a holiday holy
to humanity's dreams and
hopes.
- That is why
Christmas is, first of all,
the Christmas story.
- Christmas is the
birth of Christ.
- The birth of Christ
is the birth of humanity's
best dream and highest
hope.
- It is the birth of
God in humanity.
...
- So if you have
a-wise man's mind or if you
have a shepherd's heart,
come take a look at
Christmas, and be filled
with the wonder of God.
When I look at the wonder of
God, which to me is to consider
and to contemplate the science
and the beauty of this universe,
I have no doubt as to what God
can do! So I believe the myth can
be true, that is, factual.
THE CONSCIOUSNESS
THAT BEHOLDS SUCH
POSSIBILITIES IS READY FOR THE
BLESSINGS, MIRACLES, AND
SUCCESSES WE DESIRE.
Now to say what I said above
is not to say that I insist that
the myth is factual.It is simply
that I do not believe we have
grounds for doubting God.
Remember, I have never written
that I think what all the
religions and philosophies say in
trying to explain or explain away
or to define God are the Absolute
Truth. But I intuit that the
Absolute Truth is indeed a
wonder!
If there seems to be a problem
with myths, I think it stems from
the disillusion we all sometimes
feel because of our present
seeming inability to "prove"
them! Isn't there some statement
about our "reach" exceeding our
"grasp"?
The myth is what God is - our
inherent KNOWING feels must be
true, and it is! It just takes
time to unfold, evolve,
experience it. And that is what
our human life is all about, I
believe. How about you?
Joseph Campbell probably has
made the greatest yet study of
the myths of all time and all
people, AND I BELIEVE HE SEES
THAT THE MYTHS CONTAIN THE
GREATEST TRUTHS HUMANKIND HAS
EVER BEEN IN TOUCH WITH!
I am sure all Christian
believers and believers inspired
by Mohammad, Buddha, LaoTzu,
Confucius, and others, feel
sometimes that we cannot ever do
what these great ones did or what
has been claimed for them! Even
if the great ones did not do all
that the legends and myths have
attributed to them, it is
important that we never forget
they were pioneers in helping all
of us to believe greater dreams.
I honor this approach because I
do not believe we have grounds
for doubting God. I know I wrote
that before. I am writing it
again!
So when you are dealing with
your dreams, your desires, your
aspirations, your needs, get back
to trusting God. You are not
dependent upon any of the legends
or myths. This universe gives us
all the grounds we need for
believing, yes for believing in
what has seemed to be the
impossible dream!
Finally I want to say that I
fully believe much that is
written about the life of Jesus
does not belong in the myth
category! I find in this man all
the inspiration I need for
believing that there is nothing
God cannot do. God has done a lot
without our help, for sure, and
we are happy to believe that
there is nothing God cannot do
through us, all of us!
Today my son Kelly referred to
a high jumper named Franklin
Jacobs we both know of who, at
5'7" in height set a NCAA (US)
record at 7'7 1/4" and could do a
360' dunk on a 10ft basket.
If you can believe that, you
can believe anything! So are you
ready? Life IS a wonder; life is
beyond anything you and I can
wonder, dream, about. As the
title of a book said so well,
"YOUR GOD IS TOO SMALL". Let us,
you and I, let Christmas mean to
us this year that God can do
anything wonderful, beautiful,
loving through us and through
others. As we try sometimes to
help others who are not doing so
well, it may be vital for us to
tell them this is true of God.
Then they will be more receptive
to our prayers and support.
Let us be MERRY about
Christmas, and let us celebrate
the WONDER of Christ born in us
all!
Don
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