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Christmas  Message  to  Young  Explorers

Uranda   December 8, 1938

This year I would address my Christmas Message to the Young Folks—for Christmas is a time when people of all ages feel young and happy as they let go in the true Spirit of Christmas. So it is that on behalf of all the Young Folks of the Explorer's Club, I invite all the adults in the Third Sacred School to be the Guests of the Young Folks' Explorer's Club through this Christmas Season, and during the first part of the New Year. We trust that all of you will find Joy in entering into the Spirit of our Invitation—for Jesus said that all people needed to become as Little Children, and this is a time of year when it is easy to be young in heart and in Spirit, no matter what the years of the calendar ago may be. So it is that we, the Young Explorers, welcome you as our Guests. 

I have prepared a special Christmas Poem, and we designed a special Christmas Folder for it, and had it printed on parchment as a fitting symbol of the parchment that was used during the time of Jesus' Ministry. On the front you will notice the three Wise Men who are following the Star. The three Wise Men represent the three phases of yourself, namely, your own body, your mind, and your outer Spiritual Nature. The Star represents the Christ Light that shines forth from your own Father within you, and as all three parts of you are wise, they will always follow the direction of the Christ Light, or the Star, until the three human parts of you will be blended with your own Father within you, so that you will be Born Again Spiritually, and you will become a true Son of God. 

The important thing for you to do during this Christmas Season is to find a New and Deeper Meaning to Christmas—you are to Explore into the Spirit of Christmas so that you can begin to experience that greater Joy which is the Will of God for you. In this Message I am going to help you have the right attitude toward Christmas, so that you can begin to find many wonderful and interesting things that you have never even thought about before. 

Not long ago one of the wide awake Young Explorers asked about the time of Jesus' birth. We all know that the Christmas Holidays are supposed to celebrate the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem. The story of His birth never grows old, and it is told in many ways; in song, in poetry and in prose. 

Jesus was not born on December 25th, even though we celebrate His birth on that day. There is no exact record of just what day of the week Jesus was born on, nor of the day or month. However, we know that He was born in the Spring, and not at the beginning of Winter. In the Third Sacred School we accept the 7th of March as the Birth Date of Jesus, in the year 4 B.C. 

You are not all supposed to know just what it means now, but I would mention that Jesus came in the early part of the great Water Age—and Water is the symbol of Truth—and He was born 384 years after the beginning of the Water Age. The Water Age ended in 1768 A.D., just 270 years ago, and the great Air Age began at that time. Air is the symbol of Spirit, just as Water is the symbol of Truth. So now we are in the Spirit Age, or Age of turning to the Spiritual Life, just as Jesus came in the Truth Age, or the Age when Truth was given to man. Jesus said, "I am the Truth." In this you will see that we have a great many things to Explore into as we go along the Way. 

Now let us find out why the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25, instead of on the day when He really was born. The Apostle John, who was so close to Jesus all through His Ministry, lived to be a very old man, and after he left the earth, there was no one who took the lead in Living and Teaching the Christ Life. Soon after John the Revelator passed to the Inner Planes, the true Spiritual Teach­ings of Jesus were forgotten by most people, and what they did remember they mixed with their own ideas to please themselves. By the time 300 years from the time of Jesus' birth had passed, there was not anyone, anywhere in the then known world, who was really letting the true Christ Light shine forth. The human ideas had been given more attention than the Truth, and by giving attention to the "letter" of the law, the Spirit of it was ignored. So it was at that time that the Dark Ages of history began. 

Before this time, that which has now developed into the Roman Catholic Church had been started. The man who really started the Catholic Church was a very devout follower of the Christ, but others who sought to have power over the people soon took control away from him. Shortly, those who were giving first attention to the Spirit and the Truth were crowded out of authority, and a selfish priesthood began to de­velop. In the fourth century after Christ, the Catholic Church began to grow rapidly, gaining converts from the so-called pagan countries. Because they claimed to follow Christ, they were called Christians. 

In order to make it easy for the sun worship­pers, and other so-called pagans, to become so-called Christians, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church made it a practice to take the Holy Days of the people, change their names, and then let the people keep the same Holy Days that they always had. There was a certain people that had a great festival for Seven days between the close of the old year and the beginning of the New Year. These Holy Days—for that is what Holidays really mean—began on what we call December 25 and lasted for Seven days. When the Catholic Church went to convert these people, they did not want to give up their Holy Days, so the Church decided to let the people keep the same days, but they would change the name of the days. They had not yet set apart any certain day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, whom they claimed to follow, and so they called it the Day of Christ, and told the people that the day was alright, but that they had to change its name. The Catholic Church always had a special Mass for each special thing which they wanted to celebrate, so on the Christ Day they had a Christ Mass as a part of their religious celebration. In a short time the 25th of December came to be known as Christ Mass Day, which was changed to Christmas Day, as it is known to us. So you see that people now celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, just because some ancient people had set apart that time to worship the Sun, and the Roman Catholic Church just changed it from a day to worship the Sun to a day to worship the Son of God. 

However, even though we know that Christmas Day is really not the day on which Jesus was born, we can celebrate His birth on that date, and take a leading part in the Radiating of the Christ Love into the world at this Season when others are thinking about Jesus. 

Let us explore for a few moments the reasons why those ancient peoples who worshipped the Sun as a god, should set apart the Seven days beginning with December 25th as a Holy Day Season. It is at this time of the year that we have the longest nights and the shortest days. Because all life of plants, animals and human beings must depend so greatly on the Sun, the Sun was looked upon as the Giver of Life. It was realized that if the sun should go away, and stop shining on the earth, all things on the earth would soon freeze up in the darkness and die. All through the fall of the year the days get shorter and shorter, and the nights get longer and long­er. Now if the nights should keep on getting longer, and the days shorter, all life on the earth would cease. About the first of the year there is a change. 

For the first part of the Seven days before the first of the year the length of the days and the nights appears to be unchanged, as if the Sun were trying to decide whether to keep on making the days shorter, or to begin to make them longer again. So these Seven Days were devoted to a worship of the Sun, first praying that the Sun would re­turn and give them longer days again, and then when the Sun did start giving them the longer days, as it really does at that time of year, they gave thanks to the Sun for returning. In these Holy Days they greeted the New Year, and they knew that before long the returning Sun would melt away the snow, and bring the Springtime when they could again plant their crops and grow their food. So you see those ancient people had a very good reason for celebrating at that time. Now we know that it is not right to worship the Sun, but we do worship God who made the Sun in the first place, and causes it to shine for us. People today are too much inclined to take for granted the blessings God provides for them. They might well learn a lesson from those so-called pagan people in giving thanks to God for their great Blessings. 

As you contemplate the story of the birth of Jesus, it would be well for you to realize that He was born in a manger, in what today would be called a barn, in order to show that Spiritual Realities of God do not come in the way that human beings think they should, with worldly pomp and power. In the manger the oxen and the don­keys were fed. All through the Bible an ox is a symbol of the human mind—of your own outer mind. The ass, or donkey, is a symbol of your own body, which is a temple of the living God. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass, indicating that the Lord of the body will guide it into the New Jerusalem if the body will respond, just as Jesus guided the donkey into Jerusalem on that triumphant day. 

Just so, the ox and the donkey had to be taken out of their stall in order to let Jesus be born in the manger. That means that your own human mind and body must stop being self-active before the Christ Spirit can be born into the manger of your daily life. Both the ox and the donkey are very slow and stubborn—just like people who do not have the Christ Spirit. When your body and mind stop acting like a donkey and an ox, and then begin to respond to the Lord within, just as the three Wise Men came to Jesus, giving Him their ALL, you will find that your body and mind and Spiritual Expression will be made wise, and you will be the three wise men all in one person. In order to do this you must follow the Star of the Christ Light, Love and Life, which will surely lead you to your Lord within you, and as you give all you have and are to Him, He will begin to fill you with His Presence. The shepherds who heard the Angels sing, are symbols of those who respond to the loving Call of Jesus, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you Rest." 

Now you know more of what Christmas means, and you will understand the Love which I send to you, and  I AM  Uranda

© Emissaries of Divine Light