I come to Christianity from the context of world religions and so I believe there are larger patterns to be found the individual sects of human religions. I have always loved the zen-like paradoxes of Christmas.
THE SILENT WORD
The creative pattern behind human thought cannot itself be spoken because it is what enables thought in the first place. When we tune our hearts to that creative pattern it becomes the unspoken logic behind our words, the aspiration for justice behind our relationships and invisible beauty behind our art. We do not need an angelic choir to hear the music of the cosmos playing inaudibly in our silences.
VIRGIN MOTHER
The symbol of a virgin mother is incredibly rich. The symbol of a virgin mother can be a reminder that none of us is too old, too young, or too sullied to give birth to the sacred. Sometimes the people that help give birth to our souls are not the same persons who gave birth to our biological bodies. In this sense, a teacher who lives alone and never marries may have more children than biological parents.
LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS
Rather than seeing darkness as empty, Christmas celebrates the fact that our psychological darkness can be the candle out of which the light of joy can shine. Again, the source of light is not itself visible. The source of sound is not itself audible. When new light comes Into our lives it may very well look like darkness.
O COME IMMANUEL
The word “Immanuel” means “God is with us.” So when we sing “O Come Immanuel” at Christmas we are asking for a gift we already have. Sometimes we have to go on a pilgrimage to find the treasure already buried within us.
THE THREE “WISE” MEN
After finding the Christ Child, the 3 “wise” men go straight to Herod to tell him of a new king that has been born. Wisdom can come from any quarter, but human wisdom easily becomes cluelessness when placed in a different setting.
RULER BORN IN A CATTLE FEEDER
Love cannot enter our world without dismantling the oppressive hierarchies that bring so much suffering to our human family. Mary sang that her son would bring the mighty low and lift up the lowly. She said he would fill the poor with good things and send the rich away empty. Jesus is not a good bully replacing the bad bullies. The symbol of an infant leader sleeping in a cattle feeder means that the power of love has replace the whole notion of power as domination and violence.