This holiday season , some people perhaps are feeling so concerned about the world's harsh complexities that they might find it difficult to muster the goodwill they would normally feel. Natural disasters, threats of epidemics, economic uncertainties caused by energy shortages, wars that drag on too long, and even the emptiness of too much buying, have the potential to dampen the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Despite such challenges, some continue to cast their bread of inner peace on these turbulent waters. And the constant need for individual spiritual progress continues to be nourished by the still-resonating tidings of peace, joy, goodwill, and hope announced by the angels in the starlit skies over the stable in which Jesus was born.

The founder of the Sentinel, Mary Baker Eddy, looking beyond the turbulent turn-of-the century times in which she lived, wrote, "The splendor of this nativity of Christ reveals infinite meanings and gives manifold blessings." And with a more personal touch she said, "I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing" (see p. 22). It would certainly be difficult to think of a better way for any of us to approach this year's holiday season.

Millions of people are still recovering from the natural disasters they have contended with over the past twelve months. But most of them have access to the book that Mary Baker Eddy described as her "only textbook" and "only authority"— the Holy Bible (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 110, 126). The Bible confirms within its pages that many people survived the turmoil of their times. They proved God's power to overcome adverse conditions of every conceivable kind.

Joseph and Mary are an obvious example. Political unrest in the country made it tough for them. A stable would not have been their first choice for a place to deliver a baby. But they went where they were led to go and safely completed a journey that has since changed the world.

The prophet Elijah triumphed in his confrontation with wind, earthquake, and fire after he had heard the comforting "still small voice" of God (see I Kings 19:11, 12). That voice continues to speak to all of us today, as Australian-born poet and essayist Neil Millar, a frequent contributor to the Sentinel in the 1960s and 1970s, reassuringly wrote. He said that divinity's cool and perfect fires are burning where they have always burned: at the heart of living. They infuse every human life; and . . . every human life is one long nativity" (Shards of Light: Foursquare Press).

This nativity would not be one long party, we would hasten to add, but a joyful time of spiritual birth and rebirth, because those "cool and perfect" fires are being kept thrillingly alive by today's "shepherds" —selfless caregivers, visionaries, and healers. They believe in the unquenchable healing spirit that soars and sings during times like these. They know, firsthand, how the power of God transforms lives that are open to the teachings of the Saviour whose arrival was so joyfully announced that first Christmas.

Just think what we could all do this year if we built some of Mary Baker Eddy's goals for Christmas observance into our celebrations:

• Quietness and silence: Ideal for listening not only to the angels, but to those who call out to us for help. Too often their cries go unheard because of the emotional entanglement often associated with media coverage of cataclysmic world events.

• Humility: The quality Jesus modeled so perfectly for the human family, especially when he urged them to become childlike in their trusting, loving, and forgiving (see Matt. 18:3, 4, The Amplified Bible).

• Benevolence, charity, goodwill: An awesome threesome through which commercial activity that is now an inescapable part of Christmas is set aside, and gifts that have a deeper meaning take on greater relevance—gifts that highlight the value we attach to others and that confirm the strength of our affections.

• Prayer and praise: The keys that open our eyes and make us receptive to the "infinite meanings" and "manifold blessings" that transform lives not only at Christmas, but every day of the year.

Through observance of this kind, it's possible to really keep Christmas, living it with such God-filled enthusiasm that it will feel like the first Christmas of our lives.