A Pc View Of The Nativity

[Alan]

Because of the Christmas season, I have been thinking about the nativity scene and its meaning. I consider the Gospels to present beautiful, meaningful mythologies rather than literal stories. Thus, I have come up with the following thoughts and would love to hear from others their opinions on these ideas:

 

1. The birth story of Jesus actually portrays how the spirit of Jesus should be born within ourselves. The baby Jesus is a seed of light that radiants love and connection to God.

 

2. The lowly manger scene depicts that this seed of light can come into the life of all mankind, regardless of their status.

 

3. The animals represent our 'beastial' desires and emotions that must be subdued in the presence of this light to allow our spirituality to grow.

 

4. The sheppards represent our daily activities and work tasks that, again, must be subservient to our spirituality.

 

5. The magi (three wise men) represent the three aspects of who we are: the physical (our bodies), the psychical (our minds), and the spiritual (our souls/light), that seek to re-connect with the Jesus light (the Star in the East) to become whole again with God.

 

Alan

[ada]

1. The birth story of Jesus actually portrays how the spirit of Jesus should be born within ourselves. The baby Jesus is a seed of light that radiants love and connection to God.

 

This has been the way I've seen the birth of Christ for a long time, but I have to admit I hadn't considered most of the other parts you mentioned I think they are really great thoughts.

 

This makes me remember something I was thinking about a couple weeks ago. At Christmas time, I get a little tired of the "war on Christmas" on both sides, including the Christians who insist on bludgeoning people over the heads with "Don't you know what the real meaning of Christmas is? [Answer: Jesus]". I wrote something a few weeks ago based on what I personally felt was the better "meaning of Christmas". Here's part of it, I think it applies in some ways, though it might be a little off in other ways

 

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Our season of Christmas involves the celebration of the Light given to this world, in Jesus Christ as a messenger from God to reconcile the world to Him. And in that reconciliation, we bring love, peace, joy, kindness, comfort, charity, generosity, and numerous other positive things to each other as fellow men and women of humanity. If Jesus was the Light given to this world, surely we are to emulate that in all ways. Surely we are to be a light to others, a guiding light, an embracing light, a loving light... and accepting, kind, and generous light. The light isn't our actions themselves, but rather the Light is God shining through our actions, for everything good is truly of Him.

 

To me, that easily boils the "real meaning of Christmas" down to one thing: a standard. Christmas is a standard of living we should apply to the world around us, not just as the festive times of the year, but at all times, in all places... and to all people, regardless of circumstance or situation.

 

If Christmas is the birth of Christ, than Christmas is the birth of the Light. If Christmas is the birth of the Light? Christmas is the birth of love: The loving message from God to humanity often over looked in our every day lives.

 

Christmas is more than the birth of an individual. Christmas is the birth of God... and I don't mean in Jesus Christ (as I do not fully support the doctrine of Jesus' divinity, many of you already know this). I mean through all of the above, God was born into this world anew through Jesus Christ who brought to us a message above all other messages, to bring us as mortal and stray beings back to Him so that we could experience life and love as only He could teach us.

 

Christmas is the birth of a value -- a form of living our lives for the true value of ourselves under God, as His children, His magnificent creations.

 

Christmas is the birth of tolerance -- as Jesus was cast out by his people, we must recognize the value in acceptance and love for all that we may not fully understand so that we do not make the mistakes of the past. Humanity killed Christ, not God... humanity attempted to extinguish the Light of the World sent to guide us, but they failed. They failed because the true resurrection of Jesus Christ lies in the hearts, souls, and minds of each and every one of us, because we now embrace what humanity once rejected. So too must we embrace each other as brethren in humanity, and under God.

 

Christmas is the birth of progress -- Out of the old, and into the new... or into the world anew.

 

Christmas is the birth of an era.

... the birth of peace.

... the birth of hope.

... the birth of joy.

... the birth of love.

 

Christmas is the birth of a standard for every day living that we must not leave behind on December 26th.

 

 

 

[Alan]

Ada,

 

Beautifully said.

 

I completely agree with your idea of the Christmas standard. How wonderful our lives would be if we all gave birth to love, hope, joy, compassion, and tolerance every day!

 

Your statements about God's Light makes me think of an analogy I once heard. If God is the sun, and we are the moon, then we must strive to be full so as to reflect God's radiance during the darkness of the night.

 

I like to use a paraphrased statement of St Francis of Asissi which says "no amount of darkness can extinguish the light from a single flame". We must be candles in the darkness and strive to keep burning bright every day, not just during the holidays.

 

Alan