When Christmas comes around, do you think about the healing properties of the season? It may not be so obvious upon first glance, what with all the commercialism and focus on presents, but Christmas is really about healing.

Healing is not just an invention of the "New Age" but has been a long-standing part of ancient wisdom. One of the oldest manuals on healing is the Bible. No one person has performed more miraculous healings on the planet than Jesus Christ, though he often doesn't get enough recognition for this.

For some of you, Jesus is your Savior, God's Son incarnate, and your personal pathway to God. For others, Jesus may simply be a great spiritual teacher. And yet, for some, Jesus is a myth, either a made-up person, or a flawed human being who perhaps even had (gasp!) sexual relationships and personal hang-ups. Which is it?

In the New Age community, it might feel safer to focus on Buddha than Jesus. In the West, Buddha might actually seem less controversial. Christianity in America has become very political, and, because of certain conservative social positions held by traditional churches, often vilified. And yet, Christianity has a big enough tent that people who disagree entirely on issues such as abortion and gay marriage still call themselves Christians and followers of Christ.

It is not the purpose of this article to debate the pros and cons of certain political issues that may divide people. Rather, it is to bring to light the purpose of Jesus on the planet - healing. Whether man, myth or God - Jesus as Healer is beyond politics, beyond theological differences, and beyond myth. If you haven't come to appreciate Jesus yet, try putting aside any personal distaste for certain religious or political structures that really have nothing to do with Him.

The Christmas story is a beautiful saga of a divine child coming into a dark and broken world to bring light and healing to it. Heralded by the Angel Gabriel, and conceived by a miracle, the baby Jesus was the first "crystal child," the first child of light to penetrate the murky illusion of Maya and remind us all of our divine heritage and birthright. Buddha may have become enlightened as an adult, but Jesus came into the world already enlightened.

Jesus was divine. You may choose to interpret "divine" as being God Himself or being part of God in the more pantheistic, Eastern view of God. With the power of divinity, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and turned water into wine. He was here to teach us that we can do the same.

He told his disciples:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 14:12, King James Version

He healed many afflictions and demonic possessions:

14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:14-20, English Standard Version

In both of these sections of the Gospel, Jesus tells us exactly what we know to heal ourselves and others: Faith. This is not the stubborn faith of a religious fundamentalist, which is often more about attachment to ideas and dogma rather than a spiritual connection with the divine. Nor is about a narcissistic faith in ourselves, often sold in the New Age, that we are our own answers and we don't need a God to help us.

What Jesus taught was faith in the power of God - or, if that word does not work for you, "The Universe," Spirit, or Divinity.

When you heal, you open up a channel to the divine and break through the veil of delusion that otherwise keeps us mired in sickness and sadness. It is God that actually heals - you just open up the conduit through your faith and openness.

Healing is also about giving and receiving. In each Christmas present there is actually a mini-lesson about healing within it, even if the givers and receivers don't realize it. Jesus taught the way. If you are feeling cynical about the Christmas season, remember baby Jesus, the first crystal child, who taught us that men (and women) could move mountains.