Christmas Is...Living Love

Today, I spent some time in meditation contemplating the meaning of Christmas. Yes, I know that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Yes, I know that in Unity we celebrate the Christ born as each of us. Still, I pondered, “What is the deeper meaning and message of Christmas for me this year?”

Soon after meditating, I just happened to open Facebook (right!) to see a post with the following quote from Fr. Richard Rohr.

“Jesus didn’t come to prove that he was God. He came to show us how to be human.”

In just a few words, Fr. Rohr expresses the true meaning of Christmas. We celebrate the birth of one who, as Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth says was “not the great exception, but the great example.”

We do not celebrate the circumstances of his conception or the reason for his birth. We do not celebrate the extant story of why or how he died. We celebrate and honor the person he was and what he taught.

Jesus never asked us to worship him. He only asked that we follow him, to pay attention to what he did and do that. In the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, after he tells his listeners that the greatest commandment is love God and the second is to love neighbor as self, Jesus, in answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” tells the story of the Samaritan who showed love to the injured man by tending his wounds and paying for his care. Then he tells them to “Go and do likewise.” In other words, “Go and live the gospel of Love.”

When we look at the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels, albeit limited in its scope, we can see that Jesus was a man who lived his message of love. And through his example he showed us what to do, and through his teaching he taught us how to live a life centered in love.

Jesus openly wept when Lazarus died (John 11:36). He cried tears of mourning for his friend and tears of compassion for Mary and Martha who were bereaved. In our humanness, we feel the pain of loss, whether it is the loss of a loved one, a job, a relationship, or a dream. It is only good and right that we feel our feelings and express our grief. Living love is not only honoring our feelings, but it is also feeling with others and responding with love.

He stood for peace in the face of conflict (Matthew 26:52). To bring peace, we must not allow our fear to control our actions. To live the gospel of love, we must bring peace to our hearts and minds and put away the swords of our judgmental thoughts, punitive words, and retributive actions. Living love is living in the heart of peace and sharing that peace with the world.

He taught the power of forgiveness. (Matthew 18: 15-17) If we are holding anything against anyone including ourselves in our hearts or minds, we are the ones who suffer. When we suffer, we likely unintentionally inflict that suffering on others. How often do we need to forgive? As often as it is necessary (Matthew 18: 21-22). Living love is living in the space of forgiveness, not only for others but for ourselves, as well.

He connected authentically with those he did not agree with. (Luke 19: 1-10) Living love is being willing to have open dialog and honest connection with others, even when we believe they are in the wrong.

He respected and loved himself enough to take time away from the crowd, rest and rejuvenate. (Mark 6:31) Living love is loving ourselves enough to take care of ourselves, set boundaries with others, know what we need, and do what we can to meet our needs.

He responded to the human condition. He fed the hungry. (Matthew 15: 32-39) He healed the sick in body, mind, and spirit. (Matthew 8, Mark 5, Luke 8) He told us that we can do this and even greater things. (John 14: 12-14) Living love is accepting that the love that we are is our power to minister to our fellows and do what we can to meet their needs.

He recognized and called forth the highest of our human potential as represented in the accounts of interactions with the woman at the well, the woman with the issue of blood, and the woman who was caught in adultery and was to be stoned to death. (John 4, Matthew 9, Mark 5, Luke 8, John 8) Living love is choosing to recognize the divinity in all and doing our part to call them into remembrance of it.

He dared to claim his unity in God and declared the same is true for everyone. (John 10: 30 & 34) Living love is claiming the love that we are and the love that we are here to be in the world.

He was strong enough in his vulnerability to surrender his personal will to the higher will unfolding through him. (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 6:38) Often, in our humanity, our ego-dominated will seeks to be in control. Surrendering to a higher knowing requires us to be vulnerable, knowing not what is in store for us. Living love asks us to let go of our ideas of how things should be and accept that there is within us a higher mind that sees from a much broader perspective and knows what is for the highest and best good for all. Living love is being in service to it.

He stood firm in his truth even at the cost of his own life. (John 18:34) Living love asks us to claim our truth and not waver from it even if others do not understand and judge us for it. We can claim that we know the truth of our divine nature, the same truth we know for all beings and know that it is that truth that sets us free. We are free to love boldly.

Jesus taught and showed us many of the finer points of being a loving human being. The ones I have expressed here are just a sampling.

This Christmas, I invite us to look beyond the story of Jesus’ birth and his death. Look at the story of his life and his teaching. Rather than worshipping the baby in the manger or the man on the cross, let us work to emulate the love he so powerfully embodied and lived.

Merry Christmas!