A Note from Neale...

My dear friends... 

Christmas has always been a magical time for me. From the earliest days of my childhood it has represented a kind of transcending joy that overtakes my whole body, and, indeed, my whole life. 

And it wasn't just because of the presents, either. Sure, getting gifts at Christmas made an impression on me as a child, there's no question about it. But there was something else going on, too. Something was "in the air," and I could feel it. 

I remember thinking, as a small boy, how different people were at holiday time. They seemed more cheerful somehow. More understanding, more accepting — and more forgiving, too. 

Once, in a department store somewhere deep into December, I broke something. I don't even remember what it was, but I will always remember the clerk's reaction. 

"Oh, that's okay, sonny, don't cry. It's okay. No harm done. We'll just get this right out of the way, and no one will worry about it. Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Merry Christmas!" 

If that had been the 30th of August my parents would have been called and I would have been given "what for" about that. My Dad would have had to pay, and it would have been taken out of my allowance for a year. 

So what is it that happens to us for three weeks in December that turns us into incredibly warm-hearted human beings? And what can we do to make it last past January 3rd? 

"I wish it could be Christmas all year long!" I remember saying when I was seven. And, of course, it wasn't the event that I wanted to see continue, it was the spirit. 

So, what could cause that spirit to continue? 

Well, first, I think we'd have to change the basis of The Christmas Story itself. Now this is something that some people may not want to hear, but the Christmas Story in its secular form will not heal the world. It has not and it will not, and that should by now be clear to any objective observer. 

I know that this may come as blasphemy right here at the beginning of the Christmas season, but I think it is something that humanity has to face. 

No religion that claims to be the One True Religion, and no path that is proclaimed the Only Path, can lead the whole of humanity to an experience of itself AS a whole. And unless we can experience ourselves as One, we will have missed the point of all religions. 

The reason that Christmas has such a wonderful effect on so much of humanity in the Western world, at least, is not because it commemorates the birth of the one being said to be the Savior of all mankind, but because it gives birth again in our hearts to a thought, an idea, which we instantly recognize as the only thought that can save humankind: Peace on Earth, good will to men. 

It is the Christmas wish, it is the Christmas promise, that unites us, not the secular, separating Christmas Story. 

And so, perhaps it is time to do the unthinkable. Perhaps it is time to create a new Christmas Story. This can be the story of the birth of the baby Jesus, born to Mary and Joseph in a manger under the star of Bethlehem, the angels of heaven rejoicing at his coming, the kings of the orient traveling from afar at news of his birth, and Heaven proclaiming for all to hear, The Son of God has been born this day, who will bring to the earth a new awareness that you are all Sons and Daughters of God. 

This wondrous Son shall proclaim that none of you can ever be apart from God because you are all Sons and Daughters of God. His life shall be a testimony to that truth, as shall yours, should you follow his example. 

Love & Hugs,