Christos
“There
is a teaching that can deliver us, free us, from those mindsets and habits of
behavior that take away the pure joy of life and destroy community. The teacher
is archetypal, a spiritual being, anointed with oil, a Christos, as we each can
be.”
Thomas
Moore (The Soul of Christmas, p. 90; Franciscan Media, 2016)
According
to Thomas Moore, if we were to evolve past our current state of being, we could
live our lives with Christos—that is Christ Nature. What this requires of us is
to begin again, not unlike being born again, and examine our way of living in
the world. Instead of pointing the finger at others for the problems we see, we
ask ourselves, how have I contributed to these problems and what might I do to
help resolve them.
The
Dali Lama teaches that everyone wants the same things—to be happy and free of
pain. If we want, in our heart of hearts, to be happy, then we must give
up being angry. Those two states of mind are not compatible. To be free of
pain, we must let go of our pent-up judgements and resentments and breathe deeply enough to
restore our bodies to equilibrium and calm our minds. Anger and resentment
cause the body to defend itself by tensing up, by armoring its musculature, and
that causes pain.
In the
Christmas story, the angels who present themselves to the shepherds outside
Bethlehem offer not only glory to God, but also “peace on earth to people of
compassion.” (Luke 2:14) The gift of the baby Jesus, whose teachings change
the world, is the crucible from which both glory to God and peace on earth emerge. However, to
receive them, we must muck out our own stable, lay down some fresh hay, and set
the manger in the middle.
When we come to Christmas
with a humble heart, there is no room for hatred and resentment, only for the
tiny, fragile baby of love and acceptance. How’s your stable today? Is it
ready to receive the Christ child?
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment