We come to the hour of our evening meditation, this Sunday, December 6th, 1953. I thank God for the privilege of sharing this hour with you; and inasmuch as I will not be with you in person until just very shortly before Christmas, I think we ought to have a Christmas Meditation tonight, as we’re approaching the Christmas season. Shall we have a moment of devotion: Our Gracious LORD and Holy KING, we thank Thee for the privilege of serving Thee on earth, letting Thy Kingdom come on earth, letting Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven, that in this season when the thoughts of the children of men are turned to Thee, there may be a still greater outpouring of Thy Spirit, a manifestation of the evidence of Thy Presence on earth, to the end that all who will may share and know Thy Kingdom and Thy Power and Thy Glory, now and forever, in the Christ. Aum-en.
In this season the old, and yet ever-new, Christmas Story is being retold many ways in many places. This afternoon when we listened to the beautiful music that was presented by the choral groups up at the college at Fort Collins, where I had the pleasure of escorting our choir from Sunrise Ranch, we touched something of that general pattern of the Christmas presentation; and as far as the ministerial participation in the program was concerned I was constrained to feel that while the spirit of human beings turns anew to the Christmas Story, there is a crying need for a deeper understanding on the part of those who present that Story, so that it may not be merely words but a living expression of Divine Reality on earth in our hearts and lives at this present time. And so tonight let us consider some of the significant things in this Christmas Story.
We cannot in the time we have together tonight cover all parts of it, but there is so much that we can consider to great advantage, in radiation to the world, that the hungry ones may be filled, and in deeper realization for ourselves, to the end that the Christmas Spirit may truly manifest here. There are parts of the world where Christmastime is taken as a period of setting aside all those things which have tended to accumulate and distress one during the year; a period when, in the spirit of the babe that was born in the manger, the ill feelings of various kinds, the stresses and strains are set aside on a deliberate basis and cleared from the life pattern. And I was wondering if some aspects of such stress factors might yet remain in any of us, it might not be well in this Christmas season to take particular note of the fact that if we are to share the spirit of the babe who was born in a manger it is vitally important that we experience a clearing, a cleansing, to the end that we may be ready for the New Year, in a larger service than we have yet been able to render to our KING. Remembering the goal, we realize that nothing is important except as it relates to the reality of our service to our KING. Only as that service is promoted in the earth, to His Glory, can it be worthwhile.
And so we recall that Story, of how Joseph and Mary were journeying to Bethlehem to be taxed according to a decree that had gone out from Rome, the Roman Empire. Caesar had decreed that all the people should be taxed; and to make it nice and convenient, everyone had to return to the place of his birth to pay his tax—he couldn’t pay it where he was. And so there was a great shifting about of the population, and everyone was journeying to the place of birth. This made good business for the innkeepers, but it was hard on almost everyone else; and even the innkeepers found it rather difficult because if they happened to be some place other than where they were born they had to leave their profitable inn and go somewhere else, in order to be taxed.
Now it’s interesting that a decree by Caesar in far away Rome should be the means by which the parents of our LORD on earth were compelled to be in Jerusalem at the time of his birth. Under ordinary circumstances they wouldn’t have journeyed anywhere. Joseph was considerate, as husbands are today, and under the circumstances he wouldn’t have required that his wife should travel, especially under the crude conditions that were then available. And so they set out to return to the place of their birth, and Mary was riding on a donkey, moving with the throngs which were journeying in the whole land, going to be taxed.
Sometimes we today think taxes are a bit on the difficult side, and they are, but we cannot have a government and the services of government without taxes; so under the present world situation a certain amount of tax, at least, is very necessary. And at that time Caesar considered it to be necessary when he made the decree. It has always seemed to me to be a very arbitrary thing to require that every one should return to the place of birth to be taxed. It has always seemed to me that it was a very arbitrary thing to require that every one should return to the place of birth to be taxed. His idea was, of course, since it was easier to check up on the birth records than it was to try to get everyone cornered in the land otherwise, to be sure that the tax gatherers didn’t miss anyone Their inconvenience, and the suffering and the misery, and those that died along the way, made no impression on that Roman Emperor.
In any case, Joseph and Mary had been traveling for some little distance. Mary being great with child, was riding on a donkey. And they came to Bethlehem, and there they sought admittance at the inn. But because the potential tax payers were journeying in such huge numbers, the inn was full—there was no more room, and they were attempting to make the best of the situation, tending toward a bit of revelry. But there was no room in the inn, and finally a stall in a stable was cleared, the animals were taken out of it, and Joseph and Mary went into the stable to find shelter from the cold of the night. And there was fresh hay, and the manger—the mangers then were not exactly like they are today, but something similar. Generally speaking, pictures portraying this scene suggest that somehow there was a cradle in the middle of the stall, but that wasn’t the case—in a manger in a stable. And there was a place where the animals could be moved aside, and the parents of our LORD on earth could be given shelter from the cold night air. And it was there, in the stable, that our LORD was born—no place for Him in the inn.
Regardless of any other point that may be drawn from this particular part of the Story, we are reminded that we, as human beings, are supposed to be, individually speaking, an inn. Man is supposed to be an inn, providing a place for the Lord on earth. But generally, human being are so full of their own business, so full of their own affairs, that the Lord is kept out of the inn. And when the Lord is kept out of the inn, man is as an animal, sometimes even lower than the animal. The stable is the place of the animal, and all too often man has been the place of the animal. But it was in the stable, in the place of the animal, that our LORD was born on earth, and with His coming the stable became a Holy Place. This baby, so tiny, so helpless, in a cold, cruel world, protected by its parents, born in the stable, cradled in a manger, was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—God the Father. And the evidence of His Presence was first made manifest on earth in this particular cycle of outworking, in the form of a babe, a tiny babe. No doubt to many passing by it was just another tragedy of the throngs who were swarming this way and that along the roads going to be taxed. Many, seeing the parents, seeing the babe, did not have eyes to see or comprehend the basic truth that here was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
The tiny form—how could man then be expected to know that in that babe there was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells? But in any babe that is born in the pattern of the Divine Design we have evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And when you were born on earth, when you issued forth from your mother's womb, you came into the world as evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And yet, how long did you remain such evidence, how long did it take until even the tiny form of the child began to give evidence of something other than the Presence of the One Who Dwells? The inherent longing in you kept you searching and seeking; else you would not be here tonight, longing to return to the state of being the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
And later on in His ministry our Master took a little child and set that child before His onlookers, His hearers, and He said, “Except ye become as a little child ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” And what is it to be a little child, to become as a little child? There are those things wherein the human being must acknowledge his helplessness, his need of a father—many ideas can be properly drawn—and yet what is the basic point? The little child is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, and unless you become as a little child, unless you become the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, you can in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
And so, we are to follow Him. Our Master said, “Follow me.” And many ideas have been taught as to what that means, but to my mind, one of the things it means is as a child, a little child of God the Father, to begin to be the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And here we are constrained to pause and consider: What evidence do we make manifest day by day as we move along in the Way of Life? And the words you speak—they form the evidence of what? They carry the nature of their source. The words you speak—the evidence of the presence of what spirit? The attitudes you reveal—the evidence of the presence of what spirit? The deeds you perform—the evidence of the presence of what spirit? The thoughts you think—the evidence of the presence of what spirit?
Blessed Ones, when we begin to be, in body, and mind and heart, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, we begin to follow Him. Human beings have tried to follow Him without beginning at the beginning. They have been inclined, having become adults physically, to say, “Now we will follow Him according to such and such an idea”; but they neglected to follow Him in the initial aspect of His manifestation in ministry—for He came into the world the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And that is important. We must follow Him in this before we can follow Him in other things. His first step must be our first step if we would follow Him. And His first step in manifestation, even as a babe, was the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
Now, the shepherds upon the hills, watching their flocks, heard a song—they heard the Angels’ Song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And by reason of the fact that they heard the Angels’ Song they went into Bethlehem and saw the babe. They saw the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, they recognized, and acknowledged, and accepted—and responded. But they were the ones who heard the Angels’ Song. And they were the ones who, keeping watch over their flocks at night, were ready for the message that the Child was born, that the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells would be found in a manger in a stable—not in some fine mansion, not in the most luxurious inn to be found in Bethlehem, not in some warm and comfortable home, but in a stable. Some of you here have been living for quite some time in a barn; of course we have taken the stalls and the mangers out and made some rooms, so it’s more like an inn.
But when the message came that when the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells was again made manifest on earth, where was it to be found? Not in the places where human beings might ordinarily look. That evidence of the Presence of God was to be found in a manger, in a stable, from which the ox and the donkey had been led away. A few short hours before it had been occupied by animals; it had been cleaned up a bit, a little fresh straw put in, a little fresh hay in the manger to form the cradle for the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the shepherds heard, and they went into Bethlehem and found the babe, and saw and recognized the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And they went back rejoicing. So here we have one classification of those who have the capacity to see, to recognize, to acknowledge, and respond to the manifest evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—the shepherds, those who were keeping watch over their flocks by night, those whose lives were given to service, even though they were simple folk. They were not learned, according to the worldly wise, but they saw and recognized the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
And there is only one other classification mentioned, outside of those who provided for the birth of the Child, the earthly parents, Joseph and Mary. They recognized, they were the ones through whom this evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells had come into manifestation. Mary could hardly believe that she would be the mother of the babe—that she should be so honored. And yet, the Child's parents saw the evidence, and accepted it, and acted accordingly. You, here, are supposed to be as the parents on earth for this Holy Manifestation that is coming from God—the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. You, here, are supposed to be as Joseph and Mary, giving birth on earth to the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. Not just a babe, some particular baby, but the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells in the baby manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things of Heaven shall be added unto you. And so, you are to be as Joseph and Mary. And even though it be in a stable, even though it be in a lowly place—and it is better so—we can let the baby manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth appear right here, so that it may grow in stature and in grace, and fill the whole earth. So, there is this classification—you, who let yourselves be of the body of Joseph and Mary, for Joseph and Mary symbolize exactly the same thing as Adam and Eve did in the beginning Adam and Eve, Joseph and Mary, providing the means for the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
So, those who are the shepherds, the simple folk, who hear the Angels’ Song, and who come and hear and know—one classification. You who share here in providing for the manifestation. And one other classification, just one more, the wise men—the wise men who came from the east, and each tomorrow dawns from out of the east; the days of our tomorrows come to us from out of the east. The wise men from the east, coming out of the future, they followed the star, and came at last to Bethlehem town. And they came bearing gifts—frankincense and myrrh and gold. It was by reason of those gifts that Joseph and Mary we able to go down into Egypt and escape the wrath of the wicked king Herod. By reason of those gifts the Ministry of our LORD on earth began—the gifts of the wise men. The shepherds had no gifts to give except their adoration, their response. But the wise men came bearing gifts, and those gifts made it possible for Joseph and Mary to journey down to Egypt, and to live there for some little period of time before finally returning to Nazareth. The gifts that were given to make possible and to maintain the service of our LORD on earth. They were the gifts of the wise men. They too brought the spirit of devotion, of adoration, of acknowledgment, of recognition—of response. They, too, could see the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. But others passing by only saw a babe, and nothing more. They did not see in that tiny form the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
Finally, then, the wise men came bearing their gifts, and generally it is recognized that there were three of these wise men. And to me, they tell the story of any individual, any man or woman, who can be counted wise; for as far as you were concerned, before you touched the sphere of this Service consciously, you were coming to this Service from out of the east, from out of the future. Name the day when you first touched this Service by reading something, or by hearing a word; or the first time you met me, or one of those who serve with me. Up to that time you were coming out of the east, out of the future, to the contact when we should meet. And, what gifts did you bring? Three wise men—your body, your mind and your heart, and if in your body, and your mind and your heart you saw, and recognized, and acknowledged, and responded to the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells made manifest through this Service, then you, man or woman, you came as the three wise men came. You were following a Star, a Guiding Light—perhaps you knew not what it was, or where it went, but you were following, and you came. Body and mind and heart, you came. And what did you bring? Or did you come, saying to the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, “I need this, and I need that; please make me well; please give me this?” Or were you among the wise who came bearing gifts?
Let us consider these gifts—gold. Gold, the symbol of God’s Love, the gift of the wise heart. The gold, the gift of love, is the gift of the wise heart. And frankincense, and myrrh—they are the gifts of the wise body and the wise mind. Those gifts are not limited to three wise men on that Christmas Day so long ago, for if you, this Christmas Season, come before the LORD, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, bearing gifts, revealing that you have a wise body and mind and heart, and you give the gifts of love, and responsive attention, and responsive expression, then you too are counted among the wise, the wise men, just as surely as any who walked into that stable over nineteen centuries ago. The wise in heart, the wise in body and the wise in mind—they come bearing gifts, bearing the gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. The gift of the sweetness of being—a sweet, pure body and a sweet, pure mind, and the gold of the wise heart, the gold of love, given as gifts to the manifestation, the form of the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
The wise men—they did not go back to Herod. They were warned in a dream and they returned into their own country another way. Have you ever noticed that once you begin to really see and know, and accept and respond to, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, you may journey to your own country but you will go another way—for the way of your life is changed. You will never be the same again. The path of your life has changed its course, and it does not return by the way of Herod, the king of the self-active mind, according to the concepts and beliefs and ideas of the world, but by another way, according to the direction of the Spirit of God.
You yourselves know what it is to have life changed. Your lives were changed by contact with this Ministry, else you would not be here tonight. I can look at your faces one-by-one and remember the story of your coming, of how your lives were changed. We can speculate as to where you would probably be if it were not for this Service, and some of you, I know, as far as the physical form is concerned, would be resting beneath a tombstone by this time. There is no use speculating where you would have been. I can look out here and see bodies that, if they had yet been living, they certainly would be crippled and distorted, and filled with misery and pain, and yet I see happy and healthy human beings dedicated to the service of God. Others, perhaps not in such dire need physically, but a change in life. Your lives were changed when you contacted this Service, and you are here, and I thank God for you who share the responsibilities of this Ministry with me. And to some degree you have learned to be wise men and women, seeing, recognizing, accepting, acknowledging and responding to the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, and giving your gifts, the gift of love from your heart, the gift of responsive centering in your mind, and the gift of the yielded flesh in your body—the Temple of the Living God, made sweet in mind and flesh with frankincense and myrrh.
The three wise men are the three phases of your own being, as you let it be so. And only those through whom the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells is made manifest, and those who are capable of hearing the Angel’s Song, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, good will toward men,” and those who are wise in the true sense—only these three classifications—three you will notice—can see, recognize, and accept the evidence made manifest in form, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Blessed ones, we have another Christmas Season to share; and while I must be absent from you in person for a little time, it is nevertheless the Christmas Season for you, wherein you may hear the Angels’ Song, you may be the wise man and the wise woman, and you may let the place of the animal, the stable of your own body be the place of birth on earth of the Presence, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. This is my Christmas message to you.
It is a Christmas Message to be transferred to other tapes and sent to all of our groups who have recorders, to hear. It is a Christmas Message to go far and wide, to all who will receive it. It is a Christmas Message to be transcribed into printed form, and made available to the far places in the earth. And to each and every one who shall hear this Word, by tape, or read it, or hear it read by the lips of another—to each and every one I say, “A joyous Christmas”—knowing full well that you can have joy only as you receive the joy of the Spirit of God, in the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. As the Master Himself said at a later time, “My joy I give unto you, that your joy may be full.”
A Joyous Christmas to each and every one, that each may be keeping the flock by night, and hear the Angels’ Song, that each and every one may prove to be a wise man and a wise woman, bringing the three phases of being before the Throne of God and giving the gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, that the stable which was the place of the animal—you, your body—may become the means by which the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells may be revealed on earth—the Shekinah of our KING made manifest, the manifestation of the Christ Spirit this Christmas Season, that in truly giving yourself to the KING you may be open, as the stable was open, to receive the KING’s gifts to you. That you may not be as the over-full inn, having no room to receive the gifts of God this Holy Season, but that the gifts of God made manifest in you may fill the cup of your life and overflow, causing the desert places round about you to blossom as the rose. That the Wonder of God’s Love may fill you now and always, the Beauty of His Truth may be established in you and made manifest through you, and the Glory of Vibrant Life, Life in the expression of health and strength may manifest through your body—the gifts of God to you as you give the gifts to God, the gifts of body and mind and heart, of gold and frankincense and myrrh. That this may be a true new birth to you, and through the year at hand you may let the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Shekinah of our KING, the Shekinah of our LORD, be made evident for all who have eyes to see. Peace be unto you. Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth Peace, Good Will toward men.
This is Uranda speaking in the Chapel on Sunrise Ranch, Eden Valley. A joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year—but your New Year can be happy only as it is creative, and your New year can be creative only as you let the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells be made manifest in an through you, every part of your being And I thank God for you, continuing ever with you in the Holy Name of the One Whom I serve, our LORD and KING. Peace be unto you. Good night, and God bless you, each and every one.
I thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for all who are responding and turning to Thee, whomsoever, wheresoever they may be, that in this Christmas Season human beings may let Thy Spirit overleap all boundaries of race and color and creed and draw Thy Children everywhere into that Oneness of Being and Function by which Thy Kingdom may come, and Thy Will be done in earth as it in Heaven, for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Aum-en
