"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king ..."^{Matt. 2:1;}

Surely, on that first Christmas Day, Herod seemed the newsworthy person. He was a client-king, official friend of Rome, in Rome's fabulous age. He had the right connections, had the ear of Augustus himself. A man of power.

Herod was conspicuously wealthy. The growing prosperity of his time, with expanding trade and commerce, played into his active hands. And his massive building projects trumpeted his success even to the world outside Judea.

Herod also had a kind of style. His unscrupulous, ambivalent personality must have drawn fascinated attention. Today we know more about him in detail than about most ancient rulers. He had ten wives, two of whom he killed. Love-hate-jealousy relationships with those nearest to him. Palace intrigues, rivalries for power, whiplash reactions in public and private life. People noticed Herod.

A few miles away from Herod's secular capital, Sepphoris, was the undistinguished town called Nazareth, home of Joseph the carpenter. Bethlehem—about equally near Jerusalem—had an ancient history, but nothing to contribute, one would think, of contemporary value. Like other hillside towns, it had fields around it; shepherds with their sheep; a cave, where perhaps cattle were stabled and travelers might find refuge if there was no room elsewhere.

It's easy to say that on that first Christmas the world at large was blinded to what was really important. People were mostly looking for the wrong things, in the wrong places, using the wrong kind of perception. The timeless Christ was there—and they were watching Herod. But how can we know we're doing any better this Christmas?

For one thing, we can make sure we stay in the presence of angels, keep close to the eternal messages of good. "We should become more familiar with good than with evil," Mrs. Eddy tells us, "and guard against false beliefs as watchfully as we bar our doors against the approach of thieves and murderers." ^{Science and Health, p. 234;} This takes—more than ever, perhaps, in our time of developed visual and aural distractions—a commitment to put the things of God first. Hours spent with the Bible, with the illuminations of the Christian Science textbook, with direct and listening prayer, are not too much to give. We need to give what it takes to maintain the true standard.

As we become more familiar with good, we recognize more spontaneously the diverting techniques of evil. We discover that many of the world's criteria for what should get attention are entirely false, outdated in the light of Christianity and Christian Science. There's a correlation between Christ Jesus' words "My kingdom is not of this world" ^{John 18:36;} and Mrs. Eddy's uncompromising statement in the textbook: "Sensualism is not bliss, but bondage." ^{Science and Health, p. 337;} The word "sensualism" tends to include for us, as we grow spiritually keener, much more than is commonly reckoned. Is what we are thinking really fruitful? Does it tend to heal?

Jesus' core message, we're told, when he started his public mission, was simply: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." ^{Mark 1:15;} What this "gospel"—good news—was, his whole life would teach; and repentant thought, dropping off materialism, would be prepared to believe it: God is our Father. As Jesus said, with amazing implications for mortals, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." ^{John 20:17.}

That means that the Life demonstrated by Christ Jesus is the Life of each one of us; that there is in fact one Mind, the Mind Christ Jesus expressed; that divine Love is the only true Spirit, universally. It means there is an ascending way, blazed by the Way-shower, open for all people, into the full realization of God's government at hand. And when we climb that way, we help more than ourselves. The whole world benefits.

Isn't that the real news of today?