As the Winter
Solstice appears again in the Northern Hemisphere, Christians are expected to
celebrate the birth of an infant in a stable in Bethlehem, now in the war-torn Middle
East.
This was always a
political necessity, evolved from a festival in Northern Europe to celebrate
the lengthening of the daylight after the winter darkness by the missionary
zeal of the Catholic Church of Rome, where many disciples had perished in the
service of their beliefs.
Today, the need to
celebrate the arrival of any light into the darkness of Mankind’s ignorance and
into his continued belief that he may live well and prosper without the Higher
Intelligence, who made him in love and light, is a welcome thing to behold.
The festival, which
is now a worldwide event, is a festival of merchants plying their wares for
profit, much like the money changers in the Temple of Jerusalem two thousand
years ago.
Many religious
houses still cling to the crib in the stable idea of a salvation, which was a
child born from On High to a virgin and they miss the bigger miracle of life
that happens every day, even in the war-torn nations of the world and
especially those just a few miles away from Bethlehem in Syria and its
neighbours in the Middle East.
Here the Parable of
the Samaritan, set on that very road to Damascus, about a man who helped his
neighbour by binding his wounds and leaving money at the inn for his recovery
and welfare, has been forgotten by wealthy countries who border Syria and they
continue to walk by on the other side.
I told the Parable
of the Good Samaritan when I was asked, “Rabbi,
who is my neighbour?”
I now ask that
question of all nations, who border countries where there is unrest in the
world and I ask them, “Who is your
neighbour?”
Read your good books
if you are unaware of their teaching, because they all say that you should help
your neighbour, whether you are Jew or Muslim or Christian, the message is the
same, “Help your neighbour!”
When will Mankind realise
that religions are but a power base for those who fight each other in a holy
war of ignorance.
There is but one
source of Higher Intelligence, way above your comprehension, who created each
and every one of you to give you life and love.
You understand the difference between life and bodily death, but you
fail each and every time to understand the difference between loving your
neighbour and hating your neighbour.
When will you put
aside you material lives of greed and self-interest and work together with all
that you have in common for a better world.
Learn to love and to trade with what you have and discuss ideas for the
better ways for humanity to be human.
Why must you all
shed blood and kill the beautiful creations of the Most High, who made all Jews
and Muslims and Christians equally to love each other and to live happily in
harmony and peace.
Nobody has a direct
right to sit on the right hand of ‘God’ until he has earned that place and that
can never be until all past deeds and mistakes have been purged from your soul
by your own hand and by your own understanding.
At this time of the
Solstice, wherever you are in the world and whatever colour or creed you are, I
invite you to go into the quietness of your own mind and ask yourself honestly,
“Who is my neighbour and what does he
need me to do for him at this time?”
Please don’t think
or expect any reward or favour, as ‘God’ asks for none when he helps you and is
your saviour many times a day, whether you care to notice it or not.
Remember that you
are here to make the world a better place because you came, not richer or
poorer by trading in self-interest, but simply by giving your neighbour what he
most needs, whether you are a rich nation sitting on your hands next to a refugee
camp on your borders or an individual, who looks up to the Higher Intelligence
and gives thanks for what you have and shares it with those who don’t.
God blesses you all and so do I, Amen.
