“Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind.”
– Mary Ellen Chase
Viewed metaphysically, Christmas is a spiritual experience. It’s not about parties and unwrapping presents. It’s about more than a date celebrating the human birth of Jesus.
It’s about receiving Christ into your hearts and reflecting the love of God back toward your neighbor.
You don’t have to wait until December 25th to celebrate Christmas. You can begin today!
So wonderfully written, Evan. You are a blessing. A beautiful and precious Christmas gift from our all time Santa, God. Deeply grateful to Him and to you for all the lovely posts on “Spirit View”.
Yes,,, Why wait for a date? Christmas can be celebrated from now… So friends lets love each other from the heart as Christ Jesus our exemplar loved…forgiving even those who put him on the cross. Its not easy … but if we seek the strength from Christ He will surely make forgiving very simple and joyous for us. Then we can proudly say, I have celebrated Christmas with Christ in my heart. Merry Christmas to Evan and his family. and all my Spirit View friends.
Yes, the Christ Spirit is with us every day, all of the time, not just on one particular day that we sometimes look forward to with anticipation and sometimes feel disappointed when it is over. This true spirit is never over, but should remain in our hearts throughout the year. It is such a blessed feeling to share these thoughts with such a Spirit view family of precious givers. Thank you for the reminder, Evan.
Love….A word?…A feeling….A thought….A tingle…..As we know the word love has been used so much that its deeper meaning may have become lost….Is love something we generate within ourselves…or is it an ever present reality?…We are taught Divine Love is impersonal….What does this mean?….It is said Christ Jesus embodied Love to the degree that he could love unconditionally….To Him Love was also Truth….therefore there is not one person He could not love for he could see and understand the Truth of what stood before him….a man as a spiritual idea…..not a human with a flawed personality…flawed by a belief system built on error which prevented realization of their true nature….This Christ-Mass I will endeavor to fill my thoughts and Being with a Love fully realized…This Christmas there shall not be one single individual on our beautiful planet Earth that cannot partake of the Love God expresses thru me
I LOVE this Maximo. Well said.
Beautiful, Evan and Commenters! Such Wonderful and Inspiring Words…….but How do we implement them, feel them, and let ourselves be healed by them…..??? How do we receive Christ into our Hearts…..??? Is it through words, spouting words and phrases from the Bible and Spiritual Teachings…..?? Is it through the Head or the Heart that we feel Divine Love, God’s Love for us….?? How do we reach our Heart? Maybe through deep and honest talking with God, or a Higher Power, something Greater than Ourselves. Maybe through being honest with ourselves about how we are really feeling…..are we giving ourselves what we need, are we loving ourselves, are we letting others know how we feel and what we need…?? I believe Christ is so much more than words, but I’m not really sure how to let it into my Heart. Anyone out there have any ideas/examples they’d like to share……????
Bevi…. You have written some very thought provoking ideas….
We all study.. study… study and this is good yet unfulfilling on some level…
I can only speak from my own experience … so here goes…
The only time I have had the experience of Love is during an epiphany or the deeper version of this ….a revelatory experience…..These usually are very brief experiences yet change and deepen my understanding forever…Why these experiences are important to me is that they are the opposite of “THINKING’
and they are always accompanied with an experience which can be described as a total immersion of my being in Love…. Now words can never actually describe the experience… My study of Christian Science includes this experience…my study and thinking prepares the soil so this experience can bloom into full awareness in my consciousness… then and only then can I say I understand the words I study…Then and only then can I live these high Principles….Then and only then do I know LOVE…
and it is effortless……….Blessings
Hello Bevi,
You asked, how do we receive Christ into our heart? I personally think Christ is already living in your heart Bevi, deep within your soul, quickening his Spirit within you to want to be doing what is the best thing for you to be doing each moment.
Christ within you is an aspect of your own thinking. It is you, or can be you if you don’t repeatedly ignore Christ’s insightful still-small-voice council heard within your thoughts. Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will KEEP MY WORDS: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23. This is a promise! Receiving Jesus’ resurrected Spirit today is synonymous with receiving Christ Spirit.
Most of Jesus’ words (his teachings) that need to be kept can be found in the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Most of Christ’s words, though, are already alive in our thoughts – as you no doubt have realized – and hopefully they are agreed-with and lovingly followed in the heat of our daily walk. Christ’s living word speaking to us within our daily thinking is a sure-footed blessing.
You have a good spirit Bevi.
Thank you Evan! Thank you Maximo! This event of Love happens when we are giving God’s Love out to others just as Evan and each Spirit View fan does!
I like this. I’ve been thinking this way for many years. Others don’t always understand my viewpoint that I feel is God directed. Loving the coming of Christ is not a once a year event……it’s a daily event.
Dear Bevi,
I think the best way we can feel love and be transformed by it is by doing good for others, getting outside of ourselves, thinking about how we can be of service to others. That can take an infinite variety of forms, but I think it is all about putting what we know, what we pray about into action. Pray to be guided how and where you can do the most good whether its in your job, your church, your community, your home, your neighborhood. Let your light shine, then you will feel love because you are expressing it.
So well said Linda…. of course we never have to look very far to see where help or assistance can be expressed by a loving heart…. perhaps this is why…
“Those that come to us in need…
Are among Gods greatest gifts”……
Hi Bevi,
Have you ever looked at a precious little child or puppy or kitten and felt love just well up in your heart for the beauty, innocence, purity, joy, and harmony that you have just beheld? I have that same feeling when I “look” upon the Christ idea (in thought) and you can too. The Christ is God’s spiritual idea, the idea of Love. On page 38 of Science and Health is the following:
He [Jesus] unveiled the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love.
So one way I experience “Christmas” is to just sit quietly and think about God as Love and then consider what Love’s idea really is. I like to immerse my thought in understanding that Love’s idea must be full of joy, all harmonious, supplied with everything it needs, loving…lovable…and loved, perfectly healthy and whole, etc. Then I take joy in knowing I’m the reflection of both God and His idea (Christ). I therefore can go through my day knowing, as God does, His idea, and I can express all of the qualities of God and His idea as their reflection. Then I know the third part of the trinity, Divine Science, establishes a Principle (laws) that keep (preserve) everything in perfect harmony.
This truly makes for a Very Merry Christmas each day!
Brian… thank you so much for this beautifully stated way for one to experience Love… Doing so certainly makes the daily experience of Life so much more fulfilling….
Thank you Evan and all commenters.
Wonderful Chistmastime Comments! Thank you, SpiritView Family-of-Seekers.
Thoughtful ideas about study … getting beyond words .. from the head-thoughts to heart-thoughts…feeling Love’s nearness…..to deep inspiration and joy… lifting one beyond the
merely scholastic or intellectual… Certainly my goal.
I love Mrs. Eddy’s words, “The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love.”
Thanks one and all for your Beautiful Comments and Loving Support!! Much Love, Bevi
Brian again you stated things in ways I really relate. Love is a feeling and it overflows with goodness . When we feel this Love it just expands into every aspect of or lives. The Christ spirit is in all around, within, underneath us and we FEEL it!