A couple of days ago, a friend sent us these words, spoken by Swami Kripalu, a teacher of yoga and meditation from Dabhoi, India, when he was visiting Western Massachusetts as a teacher in residence for a few years during the 1970's:

On December 25, 1977, he said to the community: "My Beloved Children.... I am very happy to be with you on the celebration of holy Christ’s birth. Just as everyone has an equal right to God, everyone has an equal right to the messenger of God. So, I too, may enjoy Christmas even though I am a guest of Christianity."

Somehow that phrase, "a guest of Christianity," spoke to me in my depths. I felt its truth. Maybe because I too feel like a guest of Christianity--invited by friends into the community gathered around Jesus and blessed by his love.

The notion of being a guest reminds me also of the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, where Jesus comes into the world as a guest who is not at first recognized, even though he is said to have been with God in the creation of the world, before he--who is also called "the Word"-- "became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."

In a way, then, at Christmas, God comes into the world as a guest, as a child of visionary and courageous parents, as told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As familiar as they are to so many, these stories are also startling, for God takes the risk of coming into the world as a human being like us, with a body like ours, needing care and food and protection and love, not knowing ahead of time what will happen.

Additional reflections from Swami Kripalu can be found in the compilation by John Mundahl, "A Sunrise of Joy, the Lost Darshans of Swami Kripalu"