O Come Emmanuel

Emmanuel is “God with us” according to the Bible book of Matthew (1:23).  The author of the book of John explains it this way, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…” (3:16)

The Apostle Paul asks, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”  (Romans 8:31)

If God loves us so much that He is with us and for us, what can come between Him and us?  Nothing.

The Christ is that perpetual promise – that nothing can come between God and us – for the Christ is the “mediator between God and men.” (1 Tim 2:5)

That means Christmas is every day – because God and His Christ are every day – divine Love is every day.

O Come Emmanuel.  God is indeed with us.

Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link.  If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.

Twelve Baskets Full

That’s how much extra food the disciples took away after they started with just 2 loaves and 5 fish.  (Matt 14:20 is one example) That’s one basket per disciple.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  Jesus wanted his students to know that God always provided enough – for them and for all – even when it seemed as though they started with nothing or next to nothing.

Why did Jesus care?  Because his ministry was based on the very simple premise that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”  (John 3:16)  That divine Love that introduced Jesus to humanity was the basis of Jesus’ care for humanity.

And it’s still the basis of his enduring ministry.  God so loved us – you and me – that he sent his son to live and explain and prove that love to all who followed him, then and now.  And he expected them (and us) to live and explain and prove that love in our lives, too.

That means that there will always be at least one basket for us, out of the twelve baskets full, of whatever we need.  This is what love looks like.  Now, just to be clear, the baskets may not always be filled with “stuff” but they will be filled with grace, affection, strength, health, joy, intelligence, companionship, satisfaction, etc.: whatever we need to more safely exist and to more naturally love God and man.

Isaiah heard God say: “as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.”  (55:10-12)

That promise is perpetual.  It was evidence of God’s love way before Jesus’ time.  And the evidence of that same love is here today.  It’s why we celebrate Christmas: it’s why we remember the birth of God’s dear son, that came as a gift of love.  And those eternal baskets full are God’s ongoing gift to us of that love in action.

As Mary Baker Eddy puts it, “divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”  (Science and Health p. 494)

“Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.”  (2 Cor 9:15)

Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link.  If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.

Feed the famished affections

As much as this season is about the brightness of Jesus’ birth, for many it is a dark and lonely time, filled with stress and sorrow, want and woe.  The appearance of God’s “only begotten son” (John 3:16) centuries ago, was a gift of the highest love for all mankind, and it continues to give to hungering hearts today.  The good Jesus did then, still shines across time and space to meet the needs of all, here and now.

Mary Baker Eddy, Christian theologian and author, once wrote, “It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.”  (Science and Health, p. 494)  That powerful good is available to each one of us so that we can reflect the light of the world into the darkest of places.

Our neighbors, our family, even the strangers amongst us, need the deep affection that comes from the great heart of God.  Let us strive to set aside our own troubles and use the power of the season – the power of Love – to lift one another.  An outstretched hand of kindness, a sweet smile, gentleness instead of anger, gratitude, crumble walls of fear, prejudice, loneliness, and sorrow.  Whatever would say “there is no Christmas” is wiped away by the very spirit of Christmas that imbues us all.

Isaiah prophesied, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (9:2)  This promise of life and joy and salvation is ours to delight in and prove today.  We can bless and be blessed.  We can love and be loved.  We can be about our Father’s business.

The title comes from a spiritual insight Mary Baker Eddy had about this line of the Lord’s Prayer: give us this day our daily bread.  She wrote: give us grace for today; feed the famished affections. (Science and Health, p. 17)

Grace, light, affection.  For everyone.

Who do you know that could use a little light?

Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link.  If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.