Welcome, everyone, to our Christmas gathering. Today we are here to celebrate the birth of a child, the birth of the Christ child, the Christ that we know the nature of, within each and every one of us. It’s a reminder of the magic that lies within us, the magic of who we are.

There’s a common atmosphere that people feel when they come to Sunrise Ranch, and that is feeling and touching the experience of magic. We’ve been saying recently, “Magic happens here.” And what I would like to share with you all today is the reminder that magic happens here because magic happens here (indicating her mind) and because magic happens here (indicating her heart) within our hearts.

The fire that burns the most intensely is the one that you can ignite within your own soul—that light and that love are the truth of our being. It’s in remembering the divine nature of who we are that we experience the greatest joy that can come from within and can create an atmosphere of a world knowing peace, a world knowing love.

On this beautiful morning, as we remember the birth of Christ, the birth of Jesus, I wish to share with you a story. It’s a story of another birth, a birth that took place in Australia to parents David and Kate Ogg—the birth of their twins, which happened at twenty-seven weeks. When their son, Jamie, was born, his body was lifeless—which was devastating for the family and for the medical team. The doctor had worked twenty minutes to try to revive and place life back into the body of this beautiful little baby.

When his efforts were not successful, the mother instinctively knew that she wanted to hold her baby. Kate had read about a practice called “kangaroo care,” which is skin-on-skin contact with a brand-new baby. Knowing that there was a good chance her babies were going to be premature, she had read up on the benefits of how it helped maintain birth weight, how it helped enhance a deeper sleep, and how it helped the baby to know that intense love and bond of a mother and a child and their creation together.

So the doctor handed baby Jamie to his mother, and she laid him on her chest. She began to stroke the baby, to allow the baby that she had carried for nearly seven months in her womb to know her presence. As she did so, she went through all the memories that she had already formulated in her mind of the experiences that she wished to share with this child. She shared with baby Jamie that his baby sister, Emily, was doing fine—her spirit was bright and shining.

And as she began to do this, the baby experienced reflexes. There was movement in the hand, a movement in the leg, or a gasp for breath. They asked the nurse to have the doctor come in, and his response indicated it was only a reflex and to not have hope, as they were going through the grieving process.

So they continued for two hours to hold baby Jamie. The father at one point took off his shirt and also experienced expressing a deep love for his child through his warm embrace. And after two hours, something miraculous happened. The gasps for air became more defined, more frequent, and baby Jamie opened his eyes and looked at his parents.

That is the miracle of life. It’s the miracle of not understanding the mystery. It’s the magic—it’s the magic that happens within each and every one of our bodies. We often don’t acknowledge the magic that we hold. We have this amazing ability to be completely present—to hold the presence of love in our hearts; presence in the knowing that the purity of love is held within each of us. And there is a magical gift in being fully present, a magical gift in reaching out, a magical gift in touching another.

We have the magical ability to increase our capacity for expressing the gift of who we are—our innate nature. But so often we’re trying to be like someone else or to be what someone else wants us to be. Remembering the truth of why we’re here together and the magnificence of what we are creating together in this world—that is the gift.

The divinity that we hold within our cells is a miracle—thinking of all the bodily processes that go on, thousands of processes within our body, second to second, and that it happens on a subconscious level. We’re not making our hearts beat; we’re not making the blood flow through our bodies; we’re not making our body and brain cells replicate. It’s something of divine nature that’s happening through us. We’re not consciously aware that we are doing it. So we are the mystery.

One thing I’d like us to consider is, who are you being and what are you expressing into your world? On this day we have the opportunity to be fully present and aware, taking responsibility for what we are choosing to create. Does life happen to you? Or are you taking responsibility for allowing life to flow through you? And how are you responding to life as it’s occurring through you?

I receive inspirational emails called “A Note from the Universe,” by Mike Dooley. A couple of days ago I received this Note from the Universe, and it helped to create what I wished to share with you today:

If it’s not yet obvious to you, the real reason for this, and all seasons, is you. A more perfect child of the Universe has never lived. Until now, only celebrations cloaked in myth and mystery could hint at your divine heritage and sacred destiny. You are life’s prayer of becoming and its answer. The first light at the dawn of eternity, drawn from the ether, so that I might know my own depth, discover new heights, and revel in seas of blessed emotion.

A pioneer into illusion, an adventurer into the unknown, and a lifter of veils. Courageous, heroic, and exalted by legions in the unseen.

To give beyond reason, to care beyond hope, to love without limit; to reach, stretch, and dream, in spite of your fears. These are the hallmarks of divinity—traits of the immortal—your badges of honor. May you wear them with a pride as great as the immeasurable pride we feel for you.

Your light has illuminated darkened paths, your gaze has lifted broken spirits, and already your life has changed the course of history.

Bowing before Greatness,
The Universe

In this message, he speaks of lifting the veils. I’d like you to consider: What veils do you currently wear? What are the masks that you currently wear? Are they colorful ones? (Jacqueline removed a number of scarves, one by one, to illustrate.) Are they filled with flowers, trying to cover up your true emotions? Are they masks that were handed down from our family beliefs? Are they ones that constrict you? It’s time to take off the veils. It’s time to let your true nature come forth and shine, to radiate your light into the world.

The celebration of the mass of consciousness that comes together on Christmas allows us to know the divinity of the truth of who we are—to celebrate the birth of a child, a very special child that helps us to remember who we are and why we’re all here: to honor the presence of Christ within each of us.