In the Christian tradition, today is the second Sunday of Advent. The word Advent literally means “to come into being.” Christians celebrate the coming into being of Jesus the Christ on planet earth, that is, the ripening of Christ Consciousness within the human family. Remember, Christ Consciousness is the very mind and heart of God within creation which guides humanity’s evolution. We must learn to ride this dynamic wave if we want peace, joy, and true success in our lives. Advent is about increasingly allowing the momentum of God’s love and truth to guide our individual and collective lives. The birth of Jesus was not a unique event or a strange anomaly, but a transformative process we are all called to participate in. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist, quoting the Jewish prophet Isaiah, gives us the preparatory map: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Yogananda tells us, “God is love.” But herein lies a challenge: only love can receive love. Like energy attracts like energy. Love must be reciprocated or it cannot be known. Thus, the Christmas event is not a proposition to be grasped with the logical mind or a ritual to be celebrated, but a life of ever-deepening love with God, others, and creation. We enter into the spirit of Christmas in and through our willingness to gamble everything on love. Having said this, we must remember that God’s love is inexhaustible. We will spend eternity plumbing the depthless mystery of divine love. Indeed, there is always another level of discovery, receptivity, and self-giving to experience. Such is love! The Catholic priest and scientist Teilhard de Chardin said it this way:
“God does not offer Himself to finite beings as a thing all complete and ready to be embraced. For us, He is eternal discovery and eternal growth. The more we think we understand Him, the more he reveals himself as otherwise. The more we think we hold him, the further He withdraws, drawing us into the depths of himself.”
Come, Lord Jesus;
Transform me.
