I am in a part of India that has a strong Christian presence, a faith community that has been there since the beginning, when the Apostle Thomas came to India to share the good news about Jesus.
So here at the ashram one can find Christmas decorations, even in the Kalari Temple where the pujas are performed. A beautiful creche stands by the entrance to the dining hall.
Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration. The son and daughter of Karuna Poole, one of the persons who spoke to the adult education Sunday morning class at Emmanuel, had created a play after the fashion of the Black Nativity. A large cast sang and danced and acted out biblical stories of the Exodus and Jesus teaching and healing. This was followed by Amma's Christmas message and all 3,000 or so of us joining Amma in a prolonged bhagan singing, clapping hands, and dancing for almost 30 minutes straight. Very high energy! Then Amma served us all cake.
Christmas is the Feast of the Incarnation, God taking human form, the Divine in human being. My message for this Christmas is for us all to let the awareness of Christ in us come to birth. God-with-us in the reality that has not yet fully been birthed in our awareness. If it had, then we would realize that the potential of all of Jesus' life, ministry, teaching, serving, dying and resurrection is in us also to be manifested. We have the same power to forgive, to heal, to love that Jesus had, and that is the Christmas miracle. We have the power of Love. But since this realization has not yet been fully birthed into our own awareness and lives, let us practice what that would look like until it becomes truly full in us. How are we to do this? Forgive, release judgment, love, serve, have compassion. These are all ways of taking up the cross, giving up the egoic enterprise and following Jesus. May the awareness of Christ in us be born today.
A Christmas prayer
Eternal God, in the stillness of the night you sent your almighty Word to pierce the world's darkness with the light of salvation: Give to the earth the peace that we long for and fill our hearts with the joy of heaven through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Common Worship, Church of England)
So here at the ashram one can find Christmas decorations, even in the Kalari Temple where the pujas are performed. A beautiful creche stands by the entrance to the dining hall.
Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration. The son and daughter of Karuna Poole, one of the persons who spoke to the adult education Sunday morning class at Emmanuel, had created a play after the fashion of the Black Nativity. A large cast sang and danced and acted out biblical stories of the Exodus and Jesus teaching and healing. This was followed by Amma's Christmas message and all 3,000 or so of us joining Amma in a prolonged bhagan singing, clapping hands, and dancing for almost 30 minutes straight. Very high energy! Then Amma served us all cake.
Christmas is the Feast of the Incarnation, God taking human form, the Divine in human being. My message for this Christmas is for us all to let the awareness of Christ in us come to birth. God-with-us in the reality that has not yet fully been birthed in our awareness. If it had, then we would realize that the potential of all of Jesus' life, ministry, teaching, serving, dying and resurrection is in us also to be manifested. We have the same power to forgive, to heal, to love that Jesus had, and that is the Christmas miracle. We have the power of Love. But since this realization has not yet been fully birthed into our own awareness and lives, let us practice what that would look like until it becomes truly full in us. How are we to do this? Forgive, release judgment, love, serve, have compassion. These are all ways of taking up the cross, giving up the egoic enterprise and following Jesus. May the awareness of Christ in us be born today.
A Christmas prayer
Eternal God, in the stillness of the night you sent your almighty Word to pierce the world's darkness with the light of salvation: Give to the earth the peace that we long for and fill our hearts with the joy of heaven through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Common Worship, Church of England)
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