Peace on Earth Begins Within

Christmas and A Course in Miracles

Briefly.

A Course in Miracles calls Christmas the birth not of a man but of holiness itself (T-15.III.7:1), neatly severing the season from history and from the world. It restores to awareness our responsibility to remember the cause for joy now, by letting go of everything that obscures joy.

It's not about Jesus; it never was. And in A Course in Miracles, Jesus is the one who knows this and teaches it to us.

It is our task together to restore the awareness of magnitude to the host Whom God appointed for Himself . . . Far beyond your little world but still in you, He extends forever (T-15.III.7:2, 6).

Forget the tree and forget the presents underneath it. Forget every trinket, bauble and ritual the world lifts up unto the gods of commerce and social convention, those grotesque servants of separation whose endgame is famine and death. We are called to go beyond that.

You know not what love means because you have sought to purchase it with little gifts, thus valuing it too little to understand its magnitude. Love is not little and love dwells in you, for you are host to Him (T-15.III.85-6).

Before Christ took the form of Jesus, Christ took the form of ancients who celebrated winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, not because they cherished darkness and winter but because they longed for light. For them, light was synonymous with life. They built monuments and made sacrifices. They danced and sang beside enormous bonfires.

A Course in Miracles invites us to recontextualize - to rehome - that festivity.

The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come (T-15.XI.2:1-2).

Holiness is what we are when and as we remember what we are. That we have not yet remembered this is evident in everything we believe is outside of us - from the war in Gaza to the brother or sister on our streeet whose loneliness today is so great they would rather die than feel it.

But the point is not to wallow in guilt. It's not even to resolve to do more or better.

The point is to continue to look clearly and calmly at everything inside of us - body and mind - that obscures the Love of God and then refuse to project it onto our brothers and sisters. The point is to refuse to ask our brothers and sisters to sacrifice their happiness and inner peace by bearing the burden of our fear.

Let no despair darken the joy of Christmas, for the time of Christ is meaningless apart from joy. Let us join in celebrating peace by demanding no sacrifice of anyone, for so you offer me the love I offer you (T-15.XI.8:1-2).

If it was easy, then we would not need A Course in Miracles. We would not need Jesus and Saint Paul, Tara Singh and Thérèse of Lisieux. We would not need stories about wandering magi, rustic mangers and over-booked inns. We would not need a holiday to remind us that every day is given to remember holiness.

Hold a thought for me today as I struggle to remember peace and joy in the midst of violence both near and far. And I will hold one for you. Together, let us take yet another step towards remembering that "sacrifice is nowhere and love is everywhere" (T-15.XI.7:5).

Together, today - even if only for a moment - let us make it so.

Love,
Sean