Editorial December 24, 1932 Issue

Christmas Commemoration

W. Stuart Booth

The proper celebration of Christmas lifts our thought on pinions of gratitude because it is seen as commemorating a spiritual event of transcendent importance, the birth of Jesus. The Hebrew nation had long been aware of Isaiah's prophecy, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Yet those who were sufficiently awake spiritually to be aware, even in a degree, of the fulfillment of that prophecy were few indeed. Some wise men came from the East bearing gifts for the babe—"gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Watchful shepherds, who were awake to much more than the necessity of guarding their flocks, heard "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Then they, too, journeyed to Bethlehem to pay homage to the long-heralded child. These, with Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, possibly Zacharias, her husband, and Simeon, a just and devout man, Joseph, and Anna, a prophetess, appear to be the only ones other than the virgin mother with sufficient spiritual acumen to realize that anything extraordinary had occurred at that natal hour.

Quite naturally the question arises as to whether those of the present day appreciate the real meaning of the virgin birth of Jesus—its practical significance and value to mankind in connection with their everyday problems. The revelations of Christian Science not only throw the light of spiritual understanding upon the Bible records and teachings, but also clearly and simply relate them to humanity's conditions and needs, showing how practical application may be made of Scriptural truths. Therefore the discovery and declaration of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy are of paramount importance to mankind; and it is well for the world that this spiritual truth is being more widely recognized and accepted. One of Mrs. Eddy's definitional statements about the birth of Jesus is found on page 29 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and reads, "The illumination of Mary's spiritual sense put to silence material law and its order of generation, and brought forth her child by the revelation of Truth, demonstrating God as the Father of men."

Christ Jesus stressed the importance of accepting only this divine fatherhood when he said, "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." A careful study of the words and works of Christ Jesus in the light of Christian Science points to the fact that his consistent acknowledgment of God as the only cause and creator—the only Father—based his spiritual authority and power. He healed all manner of disease, made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the maimed to be whole, and raised the dead; he fed the multitudes, walked on the waves, and stilled the storm; and he said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." Thus the Master's wonderful works, which annulled the belief in creative matter, were accomplished by his discernment of the fact that the Father of all reality is God, divine Mind and Love, and that God's creation is good, harmonious, pure, peaceful, and perfect. He saw that whatever is unlike this good creation is no part of God, Truth, and therefore is without a father or creator, and is no part of eternal reality.

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