"Keep Christ in Christmas!" reads a popular holiday slogan. Although such slogans may sound rather trite, their sentiments express in simple terms the heartfelt concern of many sincere Christians.

No sooner is the last Halloween pumpkin out of sight, it seems, than we're saturated with preparations for Yuletide revelry. Colorful newspaper advertisements hawk spectacular sales, an unending stream of holiday music pours through the radio, nightly television boasts "Christmas specials" starring a host of familiar personalities or cartoon characters—often sending the message that Christmas is a time for rampant materialism. But what is the deep, spiritual understanding of Christmas?

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote, "Christmas to me is the reminder of God's great gift,—His spiritual idea, man and the universe,—a gift which so transcends mortal, material, sensual giving that the merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mockery in mimicry of the real worship in commemoration of Christ's coming." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 262 .}

To many, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth. But if Christmas is viewed solely as the celebration of a "miraculous" event that took place in the distant past, then the real meaning of Christmas has been obscured and will appear to recede further and further into history as each year passes.

If, however, Christmas is seen to be the message and manifestation of Christ's eternal presence in human experience, bringing to light God's "spiritual idea, man and the universe"—and such is the insight that Christian Science provides—then the true substance of Christmas must for us continue to expand, to grow in meaning, to enrich our lives, and to bless and heal those whom our lives touch. Christian Science does not dampen or diminish in any way the spirit of good will that is so much a part of the holiday season, but it does show that there is a profound difference between the real gift of Christmas—the truth of creation as spiritual— and the pretty paper in which it usually gets wrapped.

And Christmas is a gift—an outpouring of the Father's abundant love for all His children. In addition to reminding us of our own spiritual nature, Christmas proclaims the message that God, divine Spirit, is ever with men, sustaining, preserving, and guiding them always. In his account of Jesus' birth, Matthew speaks of this constant nearness of God when he quotes Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." ^{Matt. 1:23.}

Christian Scientists accept without question the virgin birth. They cherish the babe born to Mary as evidence of God's presence with us. A clear distinction, however, is made between the human, corporeal Jesus and the Christ, or spiritual idea of sonship with God, which Jesus embodied. Jesus' human career, which changed the course of human history, lasted only three years; but the Christ-power and presence have never been absent. The love that one feels for Christ Jesus, therefore, is not a personal, emotional attachment. Rather, it is reverent, humble appreciation, acknowledgment, and understanding of the healing, saving Christ—"God's great gift"—which shows us our native worth as God's spiritual sons and daughters.

A modern-day Christmas phenomenon is the sense of depression some people feel during and after this season. Whether in conjunction with loneliness, nostalgia, or simply an emotional reaction to artificial holiday cheer, such a state of thought cannot prevail when the true sense of Christmas is cherished and lived. Consciousness of God's presence and man's unity with God as His spiritual image is not confined to a single day in the closing week of the year. These spiritual facts are ours to understand and prove today with the dominion exercised by Jesus in his living of the Christ. In the broadest sense, therefore, Christmas is present every day of the year. The spirit of Christmas is seen and felt each time we let Christ, Truth, direct our lives.

I recall quite vividly a time when I experienced Christmas in July! Shortly after assuming administrative duties in a new job, I found myself suffering simultaneously from flu, ivy poisoning, severe sunburn, and a loss of hearing in one ear. Overwhelmed to the point of depression by this onslaught of ailments, I called upon a Christian Science practitioner to assist me through prayer. She firmly but lovingly assured me that what was needed was a clearer sense of God's ever-presence. She reminded me that the one perfect Spirit, our loving Father-Mother God, could create nothing diseased, poisonous, inflamed, or depressed.

Praying along these lines, I began to see clearly that for weeks I had been listening somewhat aghast to reports of wrongdoing in the organization that employed me instead of acknowledging the all-power and presence of God. As I opened my thought to this and to the ever-availability and control of Christ, Truth, to correct and heal, a distinct change took place in my experience. Within forty-eight hours, all suffering—with the exception of the partial deafness— was healed. I released the practioner from the case, but I continued to study and pray along the path she had pointed out to me.

During the next several weeks I searched the Scriptures and the writings of Mrs. Eddy to understand better the laws of Christ healing that Jesus practiced. Daily I grew in my conviction that the same power which restored hearing to the deaf in Christ Jesus' ministry was still at work to meet my need. One morning as I humbly prayed for deeper spiritual insight, I heard in thought, as clearly as if from someone seated next to me, this arresting statement: "In Christ, there is no obstructing element to mar the beauty and perfection of real being!" The angel message that came to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born could not have offered them more hope than I felt at that moment!

I knew that I was healed; I felt that sense of peace which comes only through Christ—through recognizing the spiritual truth of being. Within minutes there was an adjustment in my ear. My hearing had been restored, and it has remained unimpaired for more than twenty years. I should also add that before long the problems at work were harmoniously resolved as well.

Neither fanfare nor ceremony greeted the birth of Jesus centuries ago. So it is today each time the Christ, Truth, touches human existence. When the clamor of worldly concern is stilled and thought turns humbly to God, "God's great gift"—the truth of perfect God and His perfect, spiritual man and universe—transforms our lives.