Sunday Sermon - Awareness of the Messiah among us brings us peace

"This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have not opposite.

This course can therefor be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God."

A Course In Miracles

The great promise of Christmas is peace. Having been raised as a Roman Catholic the salutation "Pax vobiscum", peace be with you, and the response, "et cum spiritu tuo", and with your spirit as well, is a familiar social ritual. Outside of the church, it seems that the spirit of peace isn't as visible, has been lost in our day to day interactions, and we seem to be less ready and able to wish it for ourselves and each other.

As we continue to grieve for the innocents killed at Sandy Hook, and Sgt. Reid from Brockport, one of the last of U.S. soldiers to die in Afghanistan, as the war, after 11 years, finally winds down, the Christmas spirit of peace, love, and kinship seems to be in short supply this year.

As we see in our own country, and in countries around the world, humans are having trouble with the curriculum as A Course In Miracles tells us. Many of us have not learned our lessons. Some of us get it, but unfortunately, too many don't. The Course tells us, as Jesus did, that love is all around us and our natural inheritance if only we can remove the blocks to love. The blocks to love are greed, selfishness, anger, and pride. At this time of year we are reminded to manage these things with discipline and care because they are not real, they don't matter in the long run. When we can set aside, overcome, find a way around our greed, selfishness, anger, and pride we find the Peace Of God.

Christians believe the Love of God came to us, was incarnated, in the Baby Jesus. Some of us believe that while the Love of God was incarnated in that Baby Jesus, the same Love of God is incarnated in each one of us. Every person has inherent worth and dignity being a child of God. The Messiah is here among us and should be treated with affection, tenderness, and respect. It is this realization of Emmanuel that allows us to experience the Peace Of God and nothing can threaten this experience once we become aware of its presence.

You, too, can hear the Angel's song, if you tune in on the right frequency.