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Sunday
Message Although I grew up in the United States, I've lived in many countries and have developed an international perspective thanks to my exposure to other cultures. But due to early conditioning, my American bias has always been very influential. For example, I spent 7 years living in Canada, and for the first two years I could not get used to Canadian Thanksgiving Day, which comes on the 2nd Monday in October. In my heart, I could not get into it. For the first few years, I felt that the real Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in November. But, later, I resolved the tension and wound up having turkey two months in a row. I also lived in Paris, and celebrated Bastille Day on the 14th of July, with fireworks and dancing in the street like everyone else. But for me, the real Independence Day had already come on the 4th of July. It is no surprise that different countries commemorate similar holidays at different times. Most countries celebrate to mark the ending of one era and the beginning of a new phase for the nation. In some countries they call it Independence Day, in others they call it Founder's Day--but the spirit behind the celebration is the same. If we are totally immersed in one particular culture, we fail to recognize that there are many other, equally valid and significant experiences in other parts of the world. For some, losing that ethnocentric sense of uniqueness feels uncomfortable. But as we grow in consciousness, we can become more open to the universal significance of the varieties of human experience. Today we are beginning the countdown to Christmas with all customary sounds and smells of the holiday season. This is a very special time for most of us, and we experience heightened, joyful expectations just as we did when we were children. Although ours is a multicultural society that honors diverse religious traditions, most of us have a very specific perspective on the Christmas story and on Christianity itself. Just as there is an ethnocentric focus, there is also a Christo-centric perspective in our culture. Have you ever asked yourself, "Is our tradition unique or did Christianity borrow ideas from other religions?" If you are like me, you grew up thinking Christianity began with a big bang�with Jesus, that Jesus changed the world with ideas about God that were new and revolutionary. But a scholarly investigation reveals that Christianity comes from the accumulation of legends and theologies over centuries by people who believed in Jesus. The origin of those ideas wasn't Jesus. The origin was the myths, legends, philosophies, superstitions, and primitive cosmology of ancient western culture. Christianity was a composite product of its time and place. Recognizing this does not have to be felt as a loss. It does not have to endanger our faith or threaten our belief system. Instead it can be a way to expand our awareness and recognize cosmic truths and universal themes in human consciousness. The first people who believed Jesus was a God already knew what properties Gods had. And when they came to tell about Jesus' holy life, they naturally told it the way they saw it, with Jesus as a God, with all the standard God properties. Jesus came from Heaven. Check. To Earth. Check. Via a magical God-mortal birth. Check. In fulfillment of prophesy. Check. Heralded by magic God-sent dreams. Check. He did miracles. Check. He brought salvation. Check. What if Jesus is a new version of an old idea? History shows that there were at least 16 "Son of God" traditions in the ancient world. 65 years before the birth of Jesus, Romans celebrated the God Mithra of Persia, who was born of a virgin in a cave on Dec 25, and attended by shepherds bearing gifts. He was considered a great traveling teacher and master, had 12 companions or disciples and his followers were promised immortality. Mithra performed great miracles, he sacrificed himself for world peace, was buried in a tomb and rose again in three days. He was called "The Good Shepherd," The Way, The Truth and The Light, Re-deemer, Savior and Messiah. Does that sound at all familiar? 1500 years earlier, in Egypt, another God figure, the God-man Horus, was born of the virgin Isis-on Dec 25, in a cave, with birth announced by a star in the East, and attended by 3 wise men. At age 12 he was a child teacher in the temple and at 30 was baptized, having disappeared for 18 years. He had 12 disciples whom were his "witnesses" performed miracles, cast out demons and was called the Anointed One, was crucified between 2 thieves, buried for 3 days and resurrected. And if that isn't enough, look into Krishna of India, 800 BCE. The mythology is strikingly similar to that of Jesus. Is this simply a coincidence or a remake of the "Savior Mythos?" And what if it is? Can we accept that the Greatest Story Ever Told, is so important, that people and cultures all over the world keep telling it over and over again? And can you entertain the possibility that all the prophecies over the centuries that anticipated the birth of a Savior, a God being, were all a prelude, a dress rehearsal anticipating a very personal experience which is the birth of a new state of being, God consciousness in each one of us? When I finally stopped rejecting the idea of Canadian Thanksgiving Day, I was able to enjoy two special times of celebrating abundance and gratitude for the blessings in my life. I still have a cultural bias, a warm spot for the last Thursday in November. But I have no resistance to other traditions. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor: "Stop thinking like children. In regard to error be innocent like infants, but in your thinking be adults." Much of orthodox Christianity invites an unthinking submission to external authority. Priests are often addressed as "Father" and they speak to believers calling them "My child." Would it be OK with you if this Christmas you could maintain all the joyful anticipation of a child, but ground your faith in a more mature sense of personal power and authority? According to Abraham teachings channeled by Ester Hicks, expectation indicates the juncture between where you are and where you want to be... Where you want to be, is your desire, and where you are, is your Set-point or habit of thought. And somewhere, in there, is what we would call expectation. Expectation is a powerful point of attraction... --and whatever you expect, you will get! Remember: The Birth of the Child of God is a universal story that keeps on being told and retold in many cultures. For the traditional Christian the focus is on the birth of the baby Jesus and the fulfillment of Joyful Anticipation of a savior that would be born to bring good news to all the people. In Unity we view Christmas in a very special, very personal way. We celebrate the birth of Jesus as a Wayshower who revealed to the world "Spiritual awareness expressed as a human being." He is also our Waymaker, who invites us to experience the same state of consciousness and recognize ourselves as Children of God and heirs to the Kingdom of heavenly potential, just as He did. Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity writes in The Revealing Word: "Christ is the incarnating principle of the God-man; the perfect idea of God, which unfolds into the true man and is blessed with eternal life by measuring up to the divine standard, thus fulfilling the law. Christ abides in each person as his potential perfection." "The birth of Christ is the awakening of man to a consciousness of his unity with the one universal Spirit; the change from mortal to spiritual consciousness through the begetting and quickening power of the word of Truth. It is the change that comes here and now." As we participate in our holiday traditions, let this be a time of Joyful Anticipation for a personal awakening as deliberate creators. As Abraham says: "We want to help you regain clarity about your individual power. Everyone has it. Everything, without exception, comes only by your individual invitation to it. Expectation is a powerful point of attraction... --and whatever you expect, you will get! The Universe is abundant with everything that you want. It's benevolently providing for you. But you are the orchestrator. You are the definer, and you do it through your joyous anticipation. If there is an emotion that you are wanting to foster, that would serve you very, very well, it is positive expectation. It is excited anticipation. This
Christmas expand your celebration to include a personal shift in consciousness.
Let us recognize our own Indwelling Christ, with joyful anticipation and
faith-filled expectation to manifest more and more of our Divine Inheritance--as
children of God, The Infinite Source. To
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