tHe sPiRiT oF cHriStmAs...my own thoughts about Christ?

(before anything else I would like to say that this is a simple personal perspective and maybe not so accurate theology or history...or maybe it is...I just went with the flow of my thoughts and I can´t be bothered with researching exact facts now, or accurate bible verses...maybe that proves I am not A.I.) 

I wanted to remember who Christ was and who Christ is for me today... That´s what Christmas should be about, right? We could share more stories with each other about our journeys with God, I´m sure there are amazing ones out there... Unfortunately for most around me today I know Christmas is not at all about sharing about Christ... if Christ is not mentioned it´s even better... bring the food, the drinks and the presents and lets party...

John the disciple speaks about Christ as the Light of the world ( in another story Christ said his disciples are also the Light of the world)... I guess that´s why this season was chosen to celebrate Christ´s birth as most ancient cultures would celebrate the Winter solstice, the darker day of the year, from which Light would start to grow each day... I personally love this day as I know we´ve past the "worst" of winter and soon days are growing again :-) ... 

Darkness will never be total or at least will never last forever...Pheeeew, what a relief... yet is in the dark we see the light...

"The Light came into the darkness, and darkness will never master it" (John 1)

 

Let´s talk about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as I believe he is...or Yeshua HaMashiach... A simple jew (well, not that simple), born with no land and no home, coming from Egypt as a refugee, yet descendent from King David as many prophecies predicted the Messiah ought to be... He was called to carry the presence of God, the Pure Divine Love as no human ever or after incarnated... This presence healed many, set many free from demons, oppression, social judgements, and gave hope to many outcasts and untouchables from his time and society... he hang out mainly with the poor and lower classes, mostly farmers,  fisherman and women (which his culture didn´t have much consideration for)... He was an incredible teacher and show them a different way to live in this world, specially that time under the Roman Empire´s rule... He taught everyone not to conform with the ways of this world but to alter their consciousness and follow the ways of a loving God who will guide each one of them...This way was simple : to Love God, with all the heart, mind and spirit, to love ourselves and one another, to share and care for one another as a family, not of blood, but of spirit, where God would be our Heavenly Father and Mother, guiding us and protecting us... and people were promptly doing that because they would experience the pure and indescribable Love of God in themselves...

To speak about Jesus, or Yeshua, we need to speak about Abraham too, a man who grew up in Ur, a sumerian city-state, and one of the first big cities in the middle of the east/west trade route (southern Iraque now)... Social classes started to exist, nomads started to settle, farming and shepherding started to be developed... hunter/gatherer cultures in this part of the world had their days counted... At this times there were many Gods, local Gods, each culture with their own, who would help them with connection with a divine Spirit, would give them wisdom to live on the land, building shelters, hunting, foraging, healing, etc... 

This migration from Abraham´s father and then himself represented a break from the established norms and religious practices in these urban centres... when everyone wanted to go live in cities, Abraham chose a life of a nomadic shepherd...

The notion of a God who speaks with humans and who desires a relationship was foreign at that time (maybe only for priests or prophets but not for "common people)...Gods were more like a convenience to answer prayers and work for people´s interests, as long as they would offer some stuff and adoration in return (it sounds familiar)... Abraham´s father goes north to another city in Mesopotamia and there after his father dies Abraham heard a voice, supposedly from The Eternal God, who had no name or followers it seemed... Abraham recognized the Presence that filled him with Love...

I guess this God had a plan for human kind and God thought Abraham would be up for it, as he really loved and desired this Creator God who speaks... he heard something along these lines " I will give you descendants who will be separated to love me, follow me and worship me the way you do...(Abraham was old and his wife Sarah sterile by the way...little details) Abraham´s descendants did become a nation and did eventually take possession of the land Abraham lived as a shepherd... This nation was never supposed to have a king or become a kingdom (possibly not even possesing land, but that´s quite controvertial and sensitive, so lets not go there)... 

They were separated to love God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, to serve and follow God wherever He/She would guide them and be a blessing to all other nations... But things didn't really worked as planned... the Jews wanted a king and wanted to be a kingdom like everyone else..."Shit, they missed the point"...maybe a thought from God at the time ,

"You really want a king? Take this young shepherd boy who loves to play the harp for me and dance naked...He will be a perfect King for you" These are my words you might presume, but I imagine God being really dissapointed on how things turned out...Before they really took this course like other nations, God warned them through Samuel, a prophet that heard God quite clearly, but the people were determined and they didnt care... 

“...This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be, perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves...But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us"..." (Samuel 8:10-19) oh well... and God was not saying this about David, but other kings who would follow...possibly until now...

things got worse and worse, far from what God intended in the first place... 

In my humble and naive opinion the Jews were meant to be a separate people to worship God, to serve God by serving other people and all creation, to follow God, to Love God and their neighbours as themselves, being a blessing to all other nations... Many other things went wrong on the way...Exiles, Slavery, Moses, wars, etc... God kept speaking with Prophets who had amazing gifts to hear God´s voice, had visions, interpret dreams, healed many and performed what we call miracles... many were persecuted or killed or ignored... There were prophecies of a Messiah, a Savior from all this mess, saving them from the results of all their mistakes...and they would be again back on track to fulfill their call, maybe without land, spreading all over the world, bringing God´s presence, with Love, songs, healing, joy and hope... Everywhere they would settle, they would bring real prosperity, peace and helpful solutions for every land and society they would live... they would bring resilience in real sustainable communities wherever they would go, because they would carry in themselves the presence of the Almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth...Love, Prayer and worhip always before them... 

 

Yeshua, the promissed Messiah came and carried that Love... The religious Jews of that time were so blinded by their traditions and the power they held that they refused to accept it... Jesus was real bad news for these guys...until today I guess... By then God learned his lesson and kept a plan B just in case Jesus would be really killed... And he was...It was inevitable, there was too much power on the table to let go...plan B caught all by surprise I guess... 1st Jesus didn't remain in the realm of the dead, and then the Spirit that incarnated in Jesus was spread and available to all peoples, tribes and languages... The same Spirit was now touching people and filling them with pure Love and amazing powers were channelled  by many people who believed and welcomed this Holy Spirit, jews and not jews... God was calling whoever wanted to turn their backs to all human systems and be a messenger of Light and Love, of Justice and Hope, and bring the presence of God, The Creator of Heaven and Earth, to here and now, building community families from all languages, tribes, nations and cultures... the Spirit was flowing everywhere and eventually spread all over the Roman Empire ... 

For the first 3 centuries this Spirit was free and there were many expressions of these communities filled with the Spirit and defying the big Empire of Rome and its ways and rules...

until the institutionalization of christianity by Constantine (that would be another long discussion)... 

Things are still messed up in my opinion (not really to plan I guess), but hey, lets keep up the hope... 

 It´s a long way the path of Love, but it´s a worthy way... We are not alone on our own strength, the Spirit is still with us to help,... We don't need to build churches either (Abraham was making altars under trees), we simply need to be the "church", the followers of the way Jesus Christ has shown us... we don't even need to be "christians" as far as I´m concerned, as I have seen this same Spirit in many people from all sorts of spiritual paths, religions and belief systems... 

I guess it´s not for all either, nor it´s to convince anyone... it is a call to respond or not... we all play our part in this life... many follow this way without knowing or without naming, maybe they dont want to be "boxed" or "labelled"...

 

"the real worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth, those are the worshipers my Father wants", said Jesus once (to a Samaritan woman that culturally he should not have been spoken with... details) Jesus Christ is the one calling those who will be worshipers of God in spirit and in truth... to be the light of this world... singing to God about God´s wonders, God´s beauty, God´s power, God´s love for all created things, about God´s justice and peace, about God´s miracles and healings...

 Im so glad and thankful Jesus was born to incarnate this Christ and this Spirit of Love and Light... And that´s me remembering Christ, who called me 26 years ago and I said "yes, I´m in" ... I was not easily convinced, but after hearing God´s own voice speak to me and be fill with The Presence of  God´s Pure Love, I just 

couldn´t  do anything else with my life but to follow wherever this crazy Spirits leads me ... I wish I could feel this intense Love more often, but I guess it keeps me seeking... 

God is amazing beyond all our imagination... and even when we fuck up God´s plans, in the end I trust God´s perfect plan will prevail...