It is Christmas Eve. Lately, Christmas just doesn’t feel the same. When I was young, I was all excited about the decorations, traditions, and especially the gifts. As I got older, I began to realize that I didn’t care much about any of it, the most important parts for me were family and gift giving. This year I sort of feel like everything has changed in a subtle way.
I just don’t really care as much about Christmas as a gift giving holiday. I don’t want to feel obligated to give gifts and I don’t really want to receive gifts. Instead, what I really want is just to be able to feel the connections I have with other people who are important to me.
Today, my husband and I went to visit my aunt. As we traveled to the nursing home, we talked about religion. I know that many aspects of the Christmas story just aren’t historical. I also know that it’s possible that the entire story of Jesus’s life is an allegory, but I don’t care.
God gives us a part of Himself so that we can live. I see that in every living thing. The story of Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection, whether true or allegorical, tells me about God’s love for me, His sacrifice for me, and how He is a part of every living thing on Earth.
Tonight, there are millions, if not billions, of people going to church celebrating Jesus’s birth, but it’s like a shadow on the wall of a cave. His birth isn’t just the birth of a saviour. It isn’t that simple. His birth represents how God exists in all of us and how we are all connected by the Universal Lifeforce. God gave a part of His existence so that we could live. Tonight, of all nights, we should be celebrating that God love us, His life is in each of us, and that whatever we do to love God or ourselves, we should do for each other. Whatever we do to others, we do unto ourselves, and we do unto God. Jesus is the symbol of that connection that we have to each other and to God.
The date of December 25th isn’t the day Jesus was born. The church chose it because of the winter solstice. However, if there’s a day when all the universe aligns to give us a sign, then why not use that day to celebrate God and be thankful?
Does it really matter what is historically accurate? I don’t think God exists in a plane that pays too much attention to time and space, so I don’t think historical accuracy is all that important to our Creator. In fact, I know that I shouldn’t put History as something more important than God. It is His first commandment. Tonight, I want to be thankful for my life and the lives of every living being. I have gratitude in my heart for the experience of this life and the miracle it is. And most importantly, I thank God for His love and His light inside of my heart that give me strength, hope, and faith to endure all the struggles of this life.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
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