Feliz Navidad...

... and before you ask, no, I am not Hispanic, and yes, I call myself Christian. Some may wonder how I reconcile my lifestyle choices, philosophies, and religious convictions. Believe me, the inconsistencies exist only in the mind of the questioner.

I do believe in God, in his mercy and love for humanity, and in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, who is Christ and who called himself the Son of Man. Whether you believe in virgin birth, isn't relevant to whether you believe in Christ as the vehicle for human spiritual salvation. Didn't God himself attest to it at Jesus' baptism?

"This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased!"

If you don't buy into the pseudo-Christian dogma that has gripped the world today, and particularly the United States, it frees your mind and heart to learn the truth about what God wants of you as a Christian, and frees you to be as happy as you can arrange to be in this life.

Go read the Old Testament. It lays out very succinctly the things that God was concerned about. Then read the four Gospels of the New Testament. They set forth very clearly the fact that God doesn't expect us to be superhuman, that knowing us as he does, he made arrangements for our salvation that didn't depend on our own behavior, and that in fact, it is impossible for normal, loveable human beings, to be perfect enough to get into Heaven.

Try telling that to your friendly, neighborhood Paulian.

Finally, pay close attention to Jesus' own words:

"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy might, and love thy neighbor as thyself."

And, keep in mind that he viewed this as the sum total of all the Commandments. Don't let anyone tell you that they know better than Jesus did.

Some might think that this is proselytizing, but I'm not asking anyone to join a particular Church. I just want everyone to keep their brain engaged, instead of letting self-appointed "experts" on Christian behavior tell you how to think. Above all, espouse and implement the Golden Rule:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

To me, that means giving others what they need, and to the extent that I am capable, I want to give others what they need. If you want to call yourself Christian, examine every interaction you have with another human in the light of that rule. Be humble about your piety. Be ashamed when you fail to meet His expectations and sork hard to get it right; but forgive yourself when you don't, because God did, and that's the reason he sent us Jesus.

I know that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, and I also know that it was originally celebrated in Mediterranian Europe as the birthday of Mithras, about whom I know very little else. I also know that the old, pagan holiday was appropriated by the early Church as the day on which we celebrated the birth of Christ, in an effort to both accomodate and supplant the cult of Mithras. It doesn't matter. Celebrate Christ every day, by living the way that he taught us to live, caring for your fellow humans, giving them what they need, to the best of your ability.

And after all this, I wish you a happy Christmas, Yuletide or whatever you wish to call the season; and a healthy, prosperous, and happy Year of Our Lord, 2008.