The (Real) Meaning of Christmas

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis  “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

-Dr. Seuss,  ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’

 

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”

-George Carlin

 

Merry Christmas to all on this most wonderful day of the year! This morning children everywhere will rise early in anticipation of opening their gifts, brought the night before by Santa Clause. Families will be together to share the joy and love of the Christmas Spirit. Christmas is celebrated in different ways all over the globe on or around December 25th.

Here in the U.S., families decorate the outside of their homes with festive lights and displays. Inside, stockings are hung over the fireplace to be filled with goodies and the Christmas tree is adorned with lights and decorations, and surrounded by gifts to be opened on Christmas morning. Later – the family, gathered together from far and wide – have a traditional turkey feast. But how did we come to celebrate Christmas the way we do?

We know that Christmas is an annual festival solemnizing the birth of Jesus Christ (or Jesus the Christ). It’s a religious and cultural celebration observed by billions around the world.

The gospels of Luke and Matthew state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. The pregnant Mary and her companion Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus being born there. The Angels then heralded him as a Savior for the world.

Although no date is given in the Bible, early Christians connected Jesus to the Sun with such phrases as “Sun (not Son) of righteousness.” The Romans marked the Winter Solstice on December 25th, consequently, the first recorded Christmas celebration was held in Rome on that date in 336 A.D.

The word Christmas is a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass.” The word is recorded as Christesmaesse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. Christ is from the Greek Khristos, a translation of Hebrew Masiah or Messiah, meaning “anointed.”

The abbreviation ‘X-mas’ is based on the first letter Chi (x) in Greek Khristos. Christmas has been known by various names throughout history. Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as “Mid-Winter”. In Old English Geola (Yule) referred to the period corresponding to December and January which eventually became Christian Christmas. Noel (or Nowel) entered English in the late 14th century from Old French Nael, ultimately from Latin Natalis, meaning ‘birth’.

Christmas is celebrated in many countries around the world including many non-Christian countries due to periods of colonial rule, for example; Hong Kong. Another reason would have been  because of a countries Christian minorities, Japan is one such country, where Christmas is popular despite a small number of Christians. Many of these countries have adopted Christmas traditions such as gift-giving and decorating Christmas trees.

So that is the History of Christmas, but what about the true meaning of Christmas. I know sometimes here in the U.S. we forget what it is really about. Almost everybody here celebrates; even the atheists. It has become  more of  a commercial holiday, with the television news reporting more on how much Americans spent on the holidays than on stories about the real meaning.

We all know the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of a great man whose life was dedicated to spreading a message of love and peace. We should remember that the tradition of gift-giving is about the act of giving,  not receiving.

I love this quote from American author Steve Maraboli:

“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Let’s try to remember what it is all about this holiday season. Try to spread joy and love to those you encounter, and remember, it’s about a man two thousand years ago who just wanted us to all get along. Peace. In the words of Dickens’ Tiny Tim – “God bless us, everyone!

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

Frohe Weinachten

Feliz Navidad

Buon Natale

Feliz Natal

Vrolijk Kerstfeest

Craciun Fericit

Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narcdzenia

God Jul

Vesele Vanoce

Heri Ya Krismasi

Sheng Dan Kuai Le

Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Gozhgg Keshmish

*Please forgive any misspelling

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Kelly Curtis

 

 

Advertisement

The (Real) Meaning of Christmas

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis  “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

-Dr. Seuss,  ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’

 

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”

-George Carlin

 

Merry Christmas to all on this most wonderful day of the year! This morning children everywhere will rise early in anticipation of opening their gifts, brought the night before by Santa Clause. Families will be together to share the joy and love of the Christmas Spirit. Christmas is celebrated in different ways all over the globe on or around December 25th.

Here in the U.S., families decorate the outside of their homes with festive lights and displays. Inside, stockings are hung over the fireplace to be filled with goodies and the Christmas tree is adorned with lights and decorations, and surrounded by gifts to be opened on Christmas morning. Later – the family, gathered together from far and wide – have a traditional turkey feast. But how did we come to celebrate Christmas the way we do?

We know that Christmas is an annual festival solemnizing the birth of Jesus Christ (or Jesus the Christ). It’s a religious and cultural celebration observed by billions around the world.

The gospels of Luke and Matthew state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. The pregnant Mary and her companion Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus being born there. The Angels then heralded him as a Savior for the world.

Although no date is given in the Bible, early Christians connected Jesus to the Sun with such phrases as “Sun (not Son) of righteousness.” The Romans marked the Winter Solstice on December 25th, consequently, the first recorded Christmas celebration was held in Rome on that date in 336 A.D.

The word Christmas is a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass.” The word is recorded as Christesmaesse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131. Christ is from the Greek Khristos, a translation of Hebrew Masiah or Messiah, meaning “anointed.”

The abbreviation ‘X-mas’ is based on the first letter Chi (x) in Greek Khristos. Christmas has been known by various names throughout history. Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as “Mid-Winter”. In Old English Geola (Yule) referred to the period corresponding to December and January which eventually became Christian Christmas. Noel (or Nowel) entered English in the late 14th century from Old French Nael, ultimately from Latin Natalis, meaning ‘birth’.

Christmas is celebrated in many countries around the world including many non-Christian countries due to periods of colonial rule, for example; Hong Kong. Another reason would have been  because of a countries Christian minorities, Japan is one such country, where Christmas is popular despite a small number of Christians. Many of these countries have adopted Christmas traditions such as gift-giving and decorating Christmas trees.

So that is the History of Christmas, but what about the true meaning of Christmas. I know sometimes here in the U.S. we forget what it is really about. Almost everybody here celebrates; even the atheists. It has become  more of  a commercial holiday, with the television news reporting more on how much Americans spent on the holidays than on stories about the real meaning.

We all know the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of a great man whose life was dedicated to spreading a message of love and peace. We should remember that the tradition of gift-giving is about the act of giving,  not receiving.

I love this quote from American author Steve Maraboli:

“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Let’s try to remember what it is all about this holiday season. Try to spread joy and love to those you encounter, and remember, it’s about a man two thousand years ago who just wanted us to all get along. Peace. In the words of Dickens’ Tiny Tim – “God bless us, everyone!

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

Frohe Weinachten

Feliz Navidad

Buon Natale

Feliz Natal

Vrolijk Kerstfeest

Craciun Fericit

Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narcdzenia

God Jul

Vesele Vanoce

Heri Ya Krismasi

Sheng Dan Kuai Le

Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Gozhgg Keshmish

*Please forgive any misspelling

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Kelly Curtis

 

 

Don’t Just…

Don’t just learn, experience.

Don’t just read, absorb.

Don’t just change, transform.

Don’t just relate, advocate.

Don’t just promise, prove.

Don’t just criticize, encourage.

Don’t just think, ponder.

Don’t just take, give.

Don’t just see, feel.

Don’t just dream, do.

Don’t just hear, listen.

Don’t just talk, act.

Don’t just tell, show.

Don’t just exist, live.

-Roy T Bennett

Giving Thanks

Quaerite Et Invenietis  “Seek and you will find”

 

Today we celebrate our holiday of Thanksgiving here in the United States. People travel from all corners of the country to be with family and loved ones. Our Thanksgiving dates back to 1621 when a group of English Pilgrims in present day Massachusetts (US) shared a feast with a tribe of Native Americans to celebrate a plentiful harvest. Many countries worldwide have harvest related festivals, Canada, India, China, Malaysia and Korea are but a few. American Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a day that we pause from our hectic and sometimes selfish lives to give thanks for our blessings and to feast on wonderful turkey dinners.

I always try to be grateful for the blessings in my life, I have many, but sometimes I fall short. I honestly try. Every night I remember to thank God/The Universe for my many blessings, both large and small, during my nightly shower. Because I enjoy my hot shower so much, I realize what a blessing it is. Sometimes though, life gets in the way of twenty-four hour a day gratitude. I’ll complain to myself about my job, how my boss is an ungrateful grump. But I’ve gotten better with my gratitude lately and I’ll tell you why:

I recently saw a news story on television about people in Madagascar working in mica mines. These poor beautiful people work fourteen hour days, seven days a week, for very little money. They do all this on one bowl of rice a day and live in hovels. They do this because they have to in order to survive (mica, by the way, is used in your cell phone. Think about that when you use it).

After seeing this story, I vowed to try much harder to appreciate what I have, especially my job. It really has made my job a lot easier, knowing that I’m only going to work about eight hours, just five days a week. Then I get to go to a lovely home and woman, who has a nutritious and delicious dinner waiting for me. Afterwards I have a very comfortable bed to sleep in. All that being said, I’d like to make a list of the things I’m grateful for:

I’m grateful for my wonderful girlfriend and companion Erin, and the beautiful home she’s made and keeps for us.

I’m grateful for our wonderful, crazy dog Annie, and our cats Kayak, Keno and Milo (who lived in a woodpile until he adopted us).

I’m grateful for the food we always have.

For the clean water I can get any time I wish.

I’m grateful for our home, a warm and comfortable shelter (right now it’s raining outside and I’m warm and dry).

I’m grateful for my warm and comfortable bed.

I’m glad I live in a safe place in the world (so many don’t).

I’m grateful for my job and the income it brings in.

I’m grateful to my boss for the challenge of learning to love and accept people I wouldn’t normally want to be around.

My health is an enormous blessing.

I’m grateful for our car (it sure is easy to get to work).

For having the fitness to ride my bicycle to work when I do.

For friends and family.

I’m grateful to you for being interested in my blog, and having very interesting blogs yourself.

I know that I have it so much better than most on this beautiful planet (God bless those people).

Thank you God/Universe for all of my blessings both large and small.

Happy Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival to all!

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Kelly Curtis

 

Rosicrucian Reflections #35

 

 

“The law of manifestation operates like a triangle: First, know what you want and visualize it as if you already had it; Second, see it behind the illusion of reality, practice it in your decisions, choose the people you hang out with, etc; Third, believe, have faith and work on your emotions to be at the right frequency. This triangle of manifestation is one of the secrets of many religions: Christianity, Scientology, and Freemasonry. In Masonry is seen as “heart, mind and desire”; in Scientology is perceived as “reality, communication and affinity”; in Christianity is understood as “Father, son and holy ghost”; basically, “actions, learnings and emotions”. In Christianity, the Father equals reality or the Creator of the illusion, the son is the way, the path, the road of our decisions and actions, and the holy ghost is our heart, instincts and desires manifested in that same path. In other words, through Jesus, and with the power of the holy ghost, you reach God. This is an allegory that not many Christians can understand. Jesus represents behavior – right and wrong, the holy ghost is our faith, your heart and emotions reflecting back at you what you attract, it’s the energy that connects you to your dreams, and God represents the Architect of Reality. So, through moral behavior and positive emotions, your understand God and life, and then you receive “paradise”. This paradise is whatever you dream for yourself. Furthermore, if someone has shown you this way, he has been as an angel to you, a messenger of God; if someone stopped you from reaching it, he has been as a demon, a worker for Satan, the enemy; if you failed in seeing this path, you have redirected yourself towards hell. And if you hate your life, you are already in hell. If you want to get out of hell, you must accept the truth, and this truth is that you must know God, for He is the truth. He and the truth are one and the same.”
― Robin Sacredfire

 

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining and…

Remember to always treat animals with love and respect.

Seth Kelly Curtis

 

Essene Meditations And Blessings #36

 

 

Meditation

I feel my body become the earth,

The richness and the rock.

From my scant depth of dark topsoil

Spring the fruits for all.

But rock am I

As well as soil,

And at my center flows

The fire of molten mystery

That was kindled long ago.

What consciousness

Began that fire,

Bringing me to now?

 

The Blessing

The table in my house is full

And I have much to share.

As I gather in the fruits of my labors,

As I work

With the talents that I have,

I see

That it is in the gathering

That fulfillment lies.

It is in the labor of right livelihood

That I find greater joy

Than in the security

Of an overflowing cupboard.

 

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining and…

Remember to always treat animals with love and respect.

Seth Kelly Curtis

Daily Meditation #33

 

 

I Serve The World

I serve the world. I wait upon the Christ within all people; I call forth glory from on high through the minds of all people. I obey the infinite love which inhabits eternity. I do the works of absolute power which dwells among the heavens. The divine presence within guides my soul and I obey. I do good to all people.

 

 

Quaerite et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining and…

Remember to always treat animals with love and respect.

Seth Kelly Curtis

Science of Mind #10

 

 

I Accept the Divine Gift

Affirmative prayer means that we clear the mind of all doubt and  fear and turn in faith to the great Giver of life. It means that we become aware of the Presence of God within and around us, here and now. It means that we affirm this Presence and accept it – quietly, calmly, and peacefully – in all of Its fullness.

I now let go of every anxious thought. I now surrender any doubt or fear into the great heart of Love. I look out upon the world and say that it is my world because it is God’s world. I think of all people as my friends because they live and move and have their being in the Father of us all. I now receive confidence and inspiration  from the Source of all life. I believe that Love is guiding me. I believe there is a Divine Power that goes before me and makes perfect my way in joy and happiness. I believe this Power is flowing through me, to the joy and happiness of those around me.

I have a faith, a conviction, an assurance that cannot be moved, for I am established in a Love that envelopes everything I contact and every person I meet. I have a Friend who knows all my needs. I accept the life that He has implanted in me, and this life reaches out to everything around me, in joy and gladness, and with the blessed assurance that all is well. and believing that God is Love, I affirm that there is nothing in me that could hurt or harm or hinder those around me from entering into the fullness of their own joy, into the completeness of their own self-expression, into the perfection of their own being.

-Ernest Holmes

 

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining and…

Remember to always treat animals with love and respect.

Seth Kelly Curtis

Selections From The World’s Great Wisdom Traditions #19 The Hindu Tradition

 

 

The Lord, Who is in all things, Is NOT in all thoughts!

“Of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment, and in (all) beings,
I am the desire unopposed to Dharma, O Arjuna!” Bhagavad Gita 7:11

“I am that strength which is necessary for the bare sustenance of the body.
I am NOT the strength which generates desire and attachment for sensual objects
as in the case of worldly-minded persons.” Swami Sivananda Saraswati Commentary

This most important verse within the Gita, is also to many the most overlooked and disregarded. For those who fall into this category, the reason is obvious. And their anger when contradicted is also most telling.

In our “modern” times, the fast-food approach to spirituality and religion is a most sought for commodity. This mind-set, technically referred to as Neo-Advaita, is in traditional scripture referred to as pramada – spiritual death. Although the Gita’s fundamental philosophy declares that the Atman does not ever die, the human capacity to reveal and awaken the consciousness of the Atman can be crippled unto death.

The ancient Saintly King Bartruhari, who became an enlightened Sage, used the word pramada in the correct spiritual sense indicated by the Sage Sunat Sujata. He proclaimed:

“Peetva mohamayeem pramada madiram unmatta bhootam jagat”

“This world (its inhabitants therein) has become mad after having drunk the wine of negligence (pramada: laxity towards the spiritual goal), which being of the form of moha (delusion),
has overwhelming power to delude you.” 1

The Sage Sanat Sujata is indicating that the presence of pramada brings about a spiritual death. For the spiritual madness that at first manifests as a fever of willful and angry indifference to the consequences of inattention to and negligence of God, is rendered deadly when it becomes habitual. This madness and anger literally destroys our faculty of discrimination, which before our “disease of pramada” was our guiding light on the path to Godliness.

Sri Krishna clearly states this truth in Chapter 2:63 in the Bhagavad Gita:

“From anger comes delusion; from delusion the loss of memory; from loss of memory the destruction of discrimination;
from the destruction of discrimination he perishes.”

This is not to be defined as forgetfulness of the Self, unless one admits to a willful and belligerent forgetfulness. It is clearly distraction, willfully averting our attention from the consequences of bad habits.

Realization of the Self, as declared by Sri Ramana Maharshi to be the sole goal of life, comes when we overcome and conquer the obstacles that stand before us as enemies in the guise of seemingly insignificant habits. Therefore Bhagavan declares in no uncertain terms:

“The obstacles that hinder realization are habits of the mind (vasanas), and the aids to realization
are the teachings of the scriptures and of realized souls.” 2

The secondary meaning of pramada is procrastination and a distracted laziness, it means not taking any immediate action to rectify this most soul-stripping heedlessness.

One may say: “God’s grace is always there, so somehow I will get back on my spiritual feet.” But the fatality of staying “dead level” without motivation to rise up comes upon us as pramada gives birth to it’s only-begotten son. This offspring of pramada is known in Sanskrit as duragraha. Duragraha means the adamant determination to do that which you know you should never do.

The compound spiritual fracture of being indifferent to God and habitually partaking in negative action with utter disregard for the negative consequences creates a karmic bloodletting fatal even to the strongest constitution.
Regardless of whatever label we choose to call this effort of removing bad habits, whether it be deemed purification, removal of defilement, awakening, being in oneness or even becoming still, it should be known that Bhagavan said it is “effort that instills purity” and stressed that without it the goal of vichara (enquiry) will not be reached.
In direct reference to this Sri Muruganar, one of the foremost direct disciples of Sri Ramana Maharshi, heard the following profound statement from Bhagavan and recorded it that our doubts might be cleared:
“Know that the wondrous jnana vichara is only for those who have attained purity of mind by softening and melting within.
Without this softening and melting away of the mind, brought about by thinking of the feet of the Lord,
the attachment to the “I” that adheres to the body will not cease to be.” 3
Can this “thinking of the feet of the Lord”, prescribed by Bhagavan, be anything other than exactly what it says? Therefore, should we not get busy here and now to “fight the good fight” for spiritual attainment?
Let us leave our battle cry to the General of our forces:
Devotee: “Are we to keep anything against a rainy day; or to live a precarious life for spiritual attainments?”
Maharshi: “God looks after everything.”

 

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining, and always treat animals with love and respect.

Seth Kelly Curtis

Essene Meditations and Blessings #35

 

 

Meditation

Lady,

Mother of us all,

You are the source of all Love,

As the Father

Is the source of all Light.

You sustain me on my journey,

In my work,

In my service to my fellow beings.

May I be truly be worthy

Of your Love.

 

The Blessing

There is a vibration

That emanates from me

In whatever I do,

Mingling with,

Enhancing or detracting from

The universal vibration,

Depending upon the quality

Of my intent.

I commit myself

To a positive enhancement

Of the universal vibration

In each act and thought

That I create.

 

 

Quaerite Et Invenietis  “Seek and you will find”

 

“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed”

 

May God bless and protect you and…

May you always be

Healthy, Happy

Safe and Comfortable

 

Keep smiling, keep shining.

Seth Kelly Curtis

,