Psychologies Magazine, December 2002 —
The Christmas trees and garlands in shop windows remind us that Christmas is approaching. We begin buying gifts and decorating our homes, but very few, even among practicing Christians, understand the profound spiritual meaning of this religious festival that is at the origin of the Western calendar. Certainly, we all know that a little over two thousand years ago, a certain Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, was born in Galilee, and that after his death, his disciples considered him the "only begotten Son" of God. We have in mind the legendary stories surrounding his birth in a stable, the presence of the Magi, the shepherds, and the angels.
But celebrating Christmas is not simply about honoring the birth of Jesus Christ. For the theologians of early Christianity, the birth of the "Son of God" echoes a second birth: that of God in the heart of every human being. If Christ came into the world, it was so that every person might have access to divine life, which Saint Irenaeus summarizes in this admirable phrase: "God became man so that man might become God." Christians thus speak of a "second birth" that takes place through the "grace" of God, when a person opens their heart to Him. Jesus explains this to Nicodemus, a teacher of the law: "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Saint Paul associates this second birth with a “conversion”, that is, a change of life: “You must put off your former way of life and put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, in order to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:22).
The idea that we must be reborn through spiritual regeneration is present in virtually all of humanity's religious traditions, even those that make no reference to a personal God and His grace. The Buddha's fundamental experience of awakening constitutes the very archetype of an inner rebirth, in which the veil of ignorance is torn away. This transformative experience can occur suddenly, as with Shakyamuni Buddha, or gradually, through successive "illuminations." Whether sudden or progressive, these inner rebirths allow us to transcend the illusions and traps of our ego, to reconcile ourselves profoundly with ourselves, with others, and with the world. And this is true regardless of the adversities we encounter. This is very well expressed by Etty Hillesum, the young Jewish woman who died at Auschwitz on November 30, 1943, who wrote in her last letter, August 18, 1943 (in “An Interrupted Life: Diary”, Seuil, 1995): “The swell of my heart has become wider since I have been here, more animated and more peaceful at the same time, and I have the feeling that my inner richness is constantly increasing.”
December 2002