John Lennon,
"Happy
Christmas"
lyrics: "So this is Christmas
And
what have you done ... Another year over
And
a new one just begun ... And so this is Christmas
I
hope you have fun ... The near and the dear one
The
old and the young ...
A
very merry Christmas ... And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one ... Without any fear
And
so this is Christmas ... For weak and for strong
For
rich and the poor ones ... The world is so wrong
And
so happy Christmas ... For black and for white
For
yellow and red ones ... Let's stop all the fight
A
very merry Christmas ... And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one ... Without any fear
And
so this is Christmas ... And what have we done
Another year over ... And a new one just begun
And
so this is Christmas ... I hope you have fun
The
near and the dear one ... The old and the young
Let's hope it's a good one ... Without any fear
War
is over ... If you want it
War
is over ... Now"
John
Lennon became a philosopher as he grew older and I believe if he had
continued to live he would have left the world with even more than he
did. He desired peace and love for all and he spoke from his
heart more often than any other singer/musician in the last
century. His words made an impact on so many people's lives and
he dreamed of an ideal that the world has yet to grasp. Like
Jesus he desired that we love one another and that we give peace a
chance to change our world and our own personal lives. In so
doing we can accept a Merry Christmas for everyone.
And here we are
at Christmas, 2014 ... with nationwide protests against police
violence with people carrying posters that read "BLACK AND BROWN
PEOPLE'S LIVES MATTER" ... and so many are believing that they
don't. The old, tired, ignorant justifications for racism,
anti-Semitism and homophobia continue to be played out across the
world. We have people being killed in the name of G-d and people
being hated in the name of G-d ... and damn the people who continue to
perpetuate this hate ... and continue the perversion of Truth that we
are somehow separate from each other. Hatred has reason that
defies Intelligence, therefore denies the Indwelling Presence of the
Spirit of G-d in all people. As the Master Mind Jesus declared
over 2,000 years ago, "what a vile and ruthless race that knows
every letter of the Law yet has no love in their hearts."
Religions have thrived with teachings based on fear, shame and guilt
using "mankind's law" even when it is in total contradiction
of G-d's Law of Love.
The Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, the Koran and the Holy Bible, all give
us the Law of Love and the revelation that we are One in the
Spirit. Far too many Christians can read "Our Father" ... the first
two words of the "Lord's Prayer" and yet, hate those who
have a different view of life than they do. Muslims are
slaughtering others because their sect of Islam differs from
theirs. The murder of children must be the most heinous crime of
mankind. It will not be a Merry Christmas for everyone.
John Lennon sang the
words "War is over .. If you want it" ... so we must
continue to want it. Not just the end of wars with our enemies
but the smaller, but significant wars that are based on hate and
bigotry, prejudice and ignorance of others. Almost every time I
read an article about undocumented immigrants in the United States or
about gay and lesbian rights, especially marriage, the comments
section of the online newspapers are filled with some of the most
hateful, ignorant statements. The same is true with online
comments about President Obama. There are those who hate him
just for being the first Black President of the United States.
Even those who have been helped the most by his policies still hate
him because they don't want a black man in the White House. But
the masses of people who think intelligently and love from the center
of their soul can overcome this hate in the collective
consciousness. This will begin
to give everyone the Merry Christmas that we desire for ourselves.
The Christian
fundamentalists will tell us that "Jesus died for our sins"
... but the "Christ" has died a trillion deaths, for the
Christ is within everyone ... both the seeming sinners and the seeming
saints. The lie continues to be perpetuated that we are
"born in sin" and children have water splashed on their
faces to "wash away the sin" ... but the "sin" is
not within the child, but in the world in which they are born.
The child of hatred and ignorance was never born ... these they must
learn from the world. The sentimental story of Jesus being born
in a manger has a great symbolic meaning ... it is to illustrate the
sad state of the world in which he was born ... a world of people
against each other for a fool's reason ... a world not much less
worthy of realizing "The Christ" than the world today.
It will not be a Merry Christmas for everyone.
We can read the words of the
Christ in Jesus in 1 John 4:20 "If
anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God
whom he has not seen." And yes, there are people who will
say they "hate the sin but love the sinner" ... this can
never be true. Hate is the evil invention of mankind and
hypocrisy is its brother. The "Christ" is within
everyone. And when we realize this at the level of our soul, we
shall put away the childish things and begin to cultivate the Love of
G-d for everyone. The Master Mind Jesus tells us to "let
our light so shine" ... and in this he is telling us to let the
Love of the Christ within us touch the spirit of everyone we come into
contact with ... and we do this by recognizing the Christ within
them. And as we do, we shall have the same Merry Christmas that
we desire for everyone.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the
faith!
Rev.
Henry Bates
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