Ask people what they like most at Christmastime, and you'll hear about everything from exchanging gifts to visiting relatives to decorating the home, as well as the religious sentiments associated with the holiday. For many, the best aspect is that it's a family time, and children are often the focal point.

But in a large number of households, the children have left the nest, and perhaps without their realizing it, a kind of withdrawal has occurred in parents' lives, a de-emphasis of Christmas. Without the children around, the argument goes, why bother with all the festivities? Who needs the time spent shopping for gifts, the fuss over decorations, or the extra expenses? Perhaps scaling back in some ways does make sense. But if we're not careful, before we know it, Christmas itself is being treated as something we'd just as soon do without, not something to be cherished.

For this reason, the Sentinel encourages a fresh look at the essence of Christmas, the great gift of God described by Christ Jesus in this way: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Shouldn't what we cherish most about Christmas be its reminder of the coming of this precious gift of the healing and saving Christ that Jesus exemplified—the Word and power of God, which makes burdens light, heals sickness, and saves from sin? People who have felt this touch of divine power and grace in their lives treasure the experience, so much so that they naturally want others to know of it and to experience it for themselves. The testimonies of healing that appear in this magazine each week bear this out. Christian healing really is the good news, the great news, we're impelled to share, a light that's meant to shine.

It was this same Christ-spirit that impelled Mary Baker Eddy's work as a Christian healer, author, religious leader, and reformer. Out of her love for God and her deep desire to help and heal mankind came the centerpiece of her lifework, a remarkable book that, in turn, continues to give its millions of readers the opportunity to learn and to practice genuine Christian healing. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures provides an explanation of the metaphysical rules of Christian healing, a tested and proven method that Mrs. Eddy named Christian Science.

Anyone familiar with the broad spectrum of Mrs. Eddy's lifework knows that scientific Christian healing permeated every aspect of it. She saw healing as proof that the laws and power of God are here and are operative in this age, just as they were in Jesus' time, and that they are available to anyone under any circumstances. Such healing demonstrates the truth that man is the child of God; that our nature is spiritual and whole, and reflects God in all His goodness and harmony; and that this Christly nature regenerates our lives.

In an article titled "The cry of Christmastide," originally published in The Christian Science Journal, Mrs. Eddy writes of the spirit and activity of Christ, and how it meets the needs of the age. She notes: "In different ages the divine idea assumes different forms, according to humanity's needs. In this age it assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 370).

To cherish Christian healing is to cherish what is holy and meaningful about Christmas. And so, whatever the changing circumstances of our lives, Christmas is a time for joy and reverence. In its deepest significance, it is a reminder of God's spiritual gift to humanity. And Christian Science, as explained in Science and Health, makes this greatest of gifts an understandable and practical basis for living for everyone, in every size household, every day of the year.

Russ Gerber
Associate Editor