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I  call myself “Christian” because I have, however imperfectly, given my life to what was taught in the Sermon on the Mount. I have little in common with those who live by rules, rituals or dogmas invented latter and then labelled “Christian.” I do not see how a focus on matters Jesus did not even address should be called by his name. I do not know or care if Jesus was born of a virgin, or could do magic tricks. I do not understand what questions of his divinity even mean. I only know that when I listen to the beatitudes my heart comes to life.

“The goal of practice is to always keep our beginner’s mind.” -Zen Master Suzuki

“I tell you the truth, you must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this you will never enter the Kindom of God.” -Jesus 

Someone should come up with a theology of toys. By “theology” I don’t mean mean human imaginings about the inner workings of God, I just mean our attempts to talk about what life is all about.

There is something mystical about the power toys have over a child’s heart. To me and my brothers, Christmas was all about the toys. Practical gifts were always a devastating disappointment. For us, socks and underwear had no place under a Christmas tree.

At some level I knew the toys themselves were not the point. As I got older I began to open my presents more slowly. At some level I had learned that, when the presents are opened, the magic is over. We had spent months circling the various toys in the Sears catalogue. There was no way we were going to get all those toys, nor even the best of them. Our parents weren’t that well off so we knew we wouldn’t ever get a lavish Christmas, but there was something about the anticipation that made Christmas wonderful.

I know now that happiness was always in the hieghtened awareness. It was in the wonder, in the anticipation of toys much more than the actual toys., Christmas is a state of mind that toys only symbolize. It is the heightened awareness, not the actual toys and possessions that make us happy all through life.

When we lose that childlike wonder, our world loses its childlike magic. Robert Fulghum wrote of that emptiness:

“I know what I really want for Christmas.

I want my childhood back.

Nobody is going to give me that. I might give at least the memory of it to myself if I try. I know it doesn’t make sense, but since when is Christmas about sense, anyway? It is about a child, of long ago and far away, and it is about the child of now. In you and me. Waiting behind the door of or hearts for something wonderful to happen. A child who is impractical, unrealistic, simpleminded and terribly vulnerable to joy.”

The story about the birth of the Christ child is also a map back to our own child’s heart. It is no accident that we celebrate Christmas at the winter solstice. The Gospel of John tells the story of Christmas without Bethlehem, angels or shepherds. Instead, John speaks of a light shining out of the darkness. Our Jewish friends make the same point when Moses stands before a bush and sees an eternal burning. That’s what life is. That’s what we are. A light shining out of cosmic darkness.

We can forget the fact that our existence itself is a free gift. The universe owes us nothing, but here we are. When we forget the first gift (of life, of consciousness itself) we can be very critical of the life process. We can compare our problem filled ordinary lives to imaginary utopias. We can come to feel we are being cheated by life. But the real alternative to our present situation, is not some imagined world. The real alternative is non-existence. From that perspective we are wise to drop our grievances with reality and celebrate the gift.

In a moment ,we will sing a hymn that reminds us, “How silently, how silently the precious gift is given, so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of all heaven.”

In the meantime, we watch our Christmas candles grow short and burn out. Christmas reminds us that candles were meant to die into the light and so are we. I am a heretic in many senses, I don’t know about matters like the virgin birth, and frankly I don’t even care. What I do believe in and care about are life and love. Christmas is a reminder that our loves and lives are never wasted. They shine out as a gift.

If my calculations are correct, the light from the candles we lit as we began this service have just reached the planet Jupiter on their way to who knows where. Love shines out in the same way. Many of those we have loved and lost are not with us tonight. But we cannot say our love for them was wasted, nor should we assume that theirs for us was wasted either. Like the candle, we are meant to die into the light.

That light is shining in you now just as it did when you were a child. Experience draws our hearts from an immature craving for toys, to an appreciate of the gift of this moment. We need only go deeper than our wounds, habits and opinions to return to our original joy. If you want the excitement you felt as a child toward toys, and all they stood for, let Christmas be your road map. Let the holy child be reborn in you this night. All of the excitement and joy you once knew is still there and waiting for you in your child’s heart.

“Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which (human beings) become entirely alive.”
-Robert Lynd

Christmas carries a special magic because it reminds us that life’s greatest thrill is childlike wonderment. The pageantry of the Christmas story takes us to a certain place in our own hearts that we only remember when we become children again ourselves. And since we cannot return to our own childhood in actuality, Christmas often means sharing in the innocent joy of children so that we might restore our own childlike hearts as well.

The toys, the lights, and indeed the story itself, are the backdrop of the true miracle, which is also the miracle behind many religious symbols. I have been in Jerusalem at Hanukkah and heard the city vibrate with that same childlike joy. The birth of Jesus, the awakening of the Buddha, the entry into the promised land are all dramatic reenactments of awakening to the gift of life. When we live this day as a gift, when we celebrate our own consciousness as if it were a light shining from the darkness, when we remember that our lives are interwoven with every other being, we become lost in wonder and joy.

Christmas means many things to many people. For me, this will be my first Christmas without my parents, both of whom have died recently. I expect the sadness of my personal memories will bring out the naked harsh beauty of universality even more clearly. We cannot capture life, so in times of pain we must give ourselves more fully to it. No matter what, we belong to the river of life.

This time of year is a reminder of three miracles: that anything exists at all, that this present moment is a precious gift no matter what is happening, and that we are one with all sentient life no matter how alone we may appear to be. Why would we ever need greater miracles than those?

A federal judge ruled today that Ohio must recognize gay marriages on death certificates saying the state’s ban on such marriages is unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the ruling applies only to death certificates. So the good news is, a judge is recognizing the civil rights of gay couples. The bad news is, in order to get them, you have to stop breathing.

A federal judge Monday ordered Ohio authorities to recognize gay marriages on death certificates, saying the state’s ban on such unions is unconstitutional and that states cannot discriminate against same-sex couples simply because some voters don’t like homosexuality. Although Judge Timothy Black’s ruling applies only to death certificates, his statements about Ohio’s gay-marriage ban are sweeping, unequivocal, and are expected to incite further litigation challenging the law.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/12/23/ohio_gay_marriage_federal_judge_rules_ohio_must_recognize_gay_marriages.html

Larry Kilgore was the runner up to Rick Perry in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary. Kilgore believes that gays should be put to death, but is willing to work with them on what for him is a more pressing issue- Texas seceding from the union. Kilgore has actually changed his name so it will read Larry SECEDE Kilgore on the ballot.

“I am a Christian, and I have lots of Christian beliefs. However, I am trying to build a coalition of all different types of people. I look at the lesbians and the homosexual folks and I say, ‘Hey, D.C. is stealing my money just like they’re stealing your money.’ After we get our freedom, then we can decide all that stuff — hopefully at a county level. Right now, lesbians and homosexuals and Christians may have differences with each other, but we’ve got a bigger enemy.”

Kilgore did promise that once Texas has seceded, he would invoke biblical law:

“I would very much approve of a biblical law that prevented homosexual behavior in the new nation. According to the Bible, it should be execution, if anyone participates in that activity.” -Interview with Lone Star Q

So word to the GLBT crowd, if Texas seceding from the union is your number one issue, Larry Kilgore is inviting you to join his campaign. You have Larry’s word that you won’t be stoned to death until after the election.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/20/1264215/-Texas-Republican-s-newest-plan-Secede-first-decide-whether-to-kill-the-gays-afterwards?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29#

“I am ever present into those who have realized Me in every creature. Seeing all life as My manifestation, they are never separated from Me. They worship Me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from Me. Wherever they may live, they abide in Me.”

“What you do to the least of these, you have done to Me.”

Rev. Frank Schaefer was stripped of his ordination yesterday after performing the wedding of his gay son.  I have no idea how he will feel as he awakes this morning, but having been in church trials myself in the Presbyterian Church, I hope he feels some some relief that he did not sell his soul even at such a cost. I hope he feels some joy that he was faithful to Jesus’ message of grace. I hope he remembers that the church that accepts grace for itself but denies it to others is not the true church. I hope he feels this day that he has been true to his calling as were other Methodist pastors Jimmy Creech and Irene Stroud defrocked before him.

I hope this morning Rev. Schaefer hears the rolling thunder of people of faith across this nation who will also risk their livelihood rather than participate in this ungodly oppression. Only such faithfulness as his can save the Church from the rigor mortis of dogma and moralism. A new church is being born out of the broken pieces of the former institutions and faithful leaders like Rev. Schaefer are its founding saints.

“With help from the likes of Pat Robertson and a coalition of anti-gay, anti-Muslim, anti-feminist, and anti-ACLU networks, the Moral Majority became the Christian Right. While Graham publicly distanced himself from the Moral Majority, this was done purely for political optics. The media’s gullibility in falling for the “genteel, bipartisan, apolitical preacher” narrative gave Graham’s voice even more political clout.

Graham was a skillful orator, and he adeptly infused the teachings of Ayn Rand with those of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus says, “The meek shall inherit the earth,” and urges his followers, “To sell what you have and give to the poor.” But Graham, with the biggest Christian following in America during the ’80s, helped turn the biblical Jesus into a supply side economist who wants us to be anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-healthcare, and anti-assistance for the poor Christians.”
-C.J. Werleman

We must not reserve the word “idol” for the statues of someone else’s religion. The primary pathology of an idol comes when we worship it. So the most dangerous idol to a Christian might be a sectarian image of Christ. The most dangerous idol to a Jew might be a commitment to Israel devoid of justice. The most dangerous idol to a Muslim might be a jihad with no sense of the common good.