In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. John 1:1, 4
I only remember one Christmas Eve sermon from my childhood and youth. I was 17 years old and distinctly remember my pastor teaching on this most beautiful and profound verse from the Gospel of John about the Word (in Greek, Logos), which can mean the organizing principle connecting everything.
That night I learned that the word Word is also a synonym for Christ, the title Jesus was given that recognized His divinity and messianic lineage. 
Thus, Jesus was fully human from Mary and fully Divine from the Word, and this union is what made Him the Christ.
I recall that it was a very cold Wisconsin night. I walked outside the church sanctuary after the service and looked up into the starry night sky. Just then was when the mystery of Christmas began to feel real for me. I began to see that Christianity was not just about a story of a little baby born in Bethlehem.
It was also a demonstration of what every human being was meant to be. Whereas Jesus was born the Son of God by nature, we can be re-born as sons and daughters of God by grace.
The car was freezing and took ten minutes to warm up, but as I shivered in the back seat I felt very warmed by the love of God and the knowledge I had just received from my pastor’s teaching. I began to realize right then that Christmas is not just about Jesus because the Word that became flesh as Jesus was in existence before Jesus was born!
Thus, it dawned on me that Christmas is also about the Word. I began to deeply ponder; what was this Word that existed before Jesus was born? I suspect I will always ponder this mystery at the heart of Christmas.
Perhaps this Christmas eve you can take a moment to ponder the Christmas mystery too. Perhaps you will go outside and look up into the Milky Way Galaxy and not just ask who is the baby Jesus, but also what is the Word, that is to say, the Logos that became flesh as Jesus?
And perhaps you will feel as I did – strangely warmed by the presence of Love and Wisdom, awakened to the gift of a Christmas not just about the infant Jesus, but about the God who came near to show humankind the way back home in union with the living Word of God, so that we too might become sons and daughters of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8.17).
Holy Spirit of God – with Mary, we ask that Christ be born in us according to Thy Word. Amen.
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ContemplativeChristians.com is an online spiritual resource for the contemplative Christian journey deeper into God’s love, celebrating the gifts of Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, Silence, Solitude, Service, Nature, and especially the writings of Thomas Keating, and other teachers, contemplatives and mystics who have contributed to our understanding of the spiritual journey and contemplative Christianity.
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