It's December! Time to re-post the Christmas Thought That Goes Bump in the Night.
The Winter Solstice continues to be one of the most enduring
moments for reverence and celebration.
The darkest day of the year has come and hence forth each day shall be
filled with more sunshine. I'm not aware
of any civilization that did not make a big deal of the turning point of the
year.
So, of course, this became the season to celebrate the birth
of Jesus who became the Christ. It's
pretty well accepted that Jesus was born not in winter, but in the spring and
six years earlier than our calendar suggests.
Since Pisces, the fish, was an early Christian symbol, I'd surmise that
the birth occurred under that astrological sign. This is all irrelevant, of course. The historical Jesus Christ was one of a
handful of master teachers known to us, and his instructions on how to live a
more wonderful life have proven itself repeatedly.
Mischief arose when the teachings of this Master were
edited, blended, codified, and otherwise rendered theological and political. All the latter are man-made. Some of the recent history of organized Christianity
is not pretty - the Albigensian Crusade, Spanish Inquisition, and burning
witches come to mind, and of course the scourge of ISIS. But this is man acting against man and not
reflective of Jesus' teachings, principle of which is to do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.
It is fashionable now to minimize the impact of Jesus or even
seriously question his existence. I
distinctly recall through the years the "absence of evidence" of an
historical Jesus. Why, if the teachings
and movement were so profound, many ask, does the principle source for historical
information in the region shortly after the death of Jesus, mention him in only
a brief paragraph?
The source is Josephus, who wrote a voluminous history of
the Jews called "Antiquities."
Recently I purchased the complete works of Josephus, because I like
history, and because I was curious to read the rare, fleeting, mention of Jesus
in the decades following his death. It is
a brief paragraph. But what a
paragraph!
3. (63) Now, there was about this
time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of
wonderful works - a teacher of such men as receive the truth with
pleasure. He drew over to him both many
of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles.
He was {the} Christ; (64) and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the
principle men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him
at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third
day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and then thousand other
wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from
him, are not extinct to this day.
That's an account given when many who knew Jesus were still
alive. He must have made quite an impact
to earn that paragraph so quickly.
Note: It is possible that various
translations of the paragraph may have embellished the telling.
The history is irrelevant.
It is the teachings that shifted much of human consciousness and continues
to do so. Jesus taught that thinking (prayer) was the road to a
wonderful life. Thinking is very
personal, therefore the relationship to God that Jesus taught, had to be
personal as well. That, of course, didn't
go over well with Priests or any positioned person to whom obedience and, well,
worship were required. Radical stuff,
actually.
So, to celebrate the Christ Mass, is a good thing. It is a Merry Christmas. It is a Happy Holiday. It is as pagan as it gets, for the
celebration is ancient. Adjacent to Christmas,
in our modern calendar, is the New Year!
Really, rejoice that the great Teacher came to teach us joy, then embark
on a fresh, new year that uncluttered with the mistakes (and erroneous
thinking) of the previous year.
Why, there's even a host of robust celebratory music to
accompany the season. Joy to the
World! Happy New Year!
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