Article December 18, 2006 Issue

The Christmas story and the healer

BY REBECCA ODEGAARD

Known alike throughout the Christian and non-Christian worlds, the Christmas story, of the long-anticipated arrival of the Messiah, took an unexpected route through the humble conditions of Christ Jesus' birth. But this unconventional turn is full of practical instruction for today's Christian healer.

As Christmases come and go, I've asked myself if I'm merely considering it fondly as a familiar ancient story, or if I am growing with it, allowing it to teach me to become a closer follower of Christ—the regenerative truths regarding God and His creation—and therefore a better healer. Useful lessons emerge as we peer into the story and find, beyond the well-known tale, its divinity—the divine essence of healing that it represents.

The story of Jesus' coming is the story of God's utter and intricate care for His children. In an article titled "Christmas," Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour." She continued on to explain that this star, or "light of Truth ...calms man's fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sickness, and death" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 320). Certainly, this event took place on the human scene, but behind it is a divine event. It outlines a specific way God raises us to our spiritual potential, to the royalty of our being as spiritual children—"heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). It maps out, in relief, God's dependable love and shows us the way to holiness and health. It takes us to the very eye, or center, of Christian healing.