"Light in the darkness" is the proper term for Christmas. We see too how Christmas is celebrated by lighting millions of candles and switching on millions of lights. In the streets, in the shop windows, in the homes, everywhere lights are switched on, lights that shine out in the darkness of winter. The children's eyes vie with all the Christmas lights in shining at the thought of Christmas trees and Christmas presents; most adults too are influenced by the Christmas atmosphere, despite their troubles and the pressure of their work. Many of these adults, however, think absolutely that Christmas is exclusively a feast for children, and that they themselves have grown out of that kind of childish delight. Nonetheless, all the lights in the darkness influence their mentality, and, in their heart of hearts, they would be reluctant to miss the Christmas celebrations, which evoke memories of their own childhood's Christmas parties and Christmas delights.

As the new world impulse gradually gains ground in people's consciousness, they will naturally look at many things in another way than they did when they were under the influence of the old world impulse; and this is true too of Christmas. The Christmas message in its old form will in time lose its force, but the light and the joy that is expressed through the narrative will not only endure but will become stronger and stronger. A new epoch is developing among terrestrial human beings, an epoch in which Christmas will be not merely a celebration once a year but will become a constant function in people's psyche. The joy of Christmas will become joy in living, Christmas presents will become the human being giving himself, that is his joy in living and his creative ability, for the benefit of the whole, and the peace of Christmas will become peace all the year round, not merely between the different nations but also between the different human beings. There will really be "peace on Earth and goodwill to all men", as is promised in the Christmas gospel. But in order really to understand what the meaning of this old message is, one must become acquainted with it as it was preached to the wise and not merely to the simple-minded, as has been the case during the old world impulse. The human being must learn to understand the speech of the universe about the Christmas message.

The speech of the universe is the speech about "light in the darkness". In the Old Testament we can read that God said, "Let there be light". What kind of "light" is this, I wonder? It is not physical light because, later on in the story of creation, we are told that the sun and the moon were placed in the sky. It is the light of consciousness, the light of spirit that is to shine in the dark world of matter. And it is this that is about to happen through the evolution of mankind on Earth. The human being's creative thinking and humane ability or faculty for neighbourly love is the light that shines in the darkness, darkness being the state of ignorance and primitivity that belongs to the animal kingdom, a kingdom that people will develop out of by getting "to know the difference between good and evil", as the serpent said to Eve. Then they will become "like God", which means that they will become "human beings in God's image". But people have as yet not learned much about the difference between good and evil because if they had they would do more good than they do. They have thus not yet become "human beings in God's image"; they are still being created, which is the same as undergoing evolution. As yet the clear light of consciousness shines merely as a tiny candle in the darkness, as a little Christmas candle; it will, however, come to be like a twinkling Christmas star through which the shining and warming vibrations of the joy in living, of intellectuality and of neighbourly love will shine out in the darkness as a joy and a benefit for living beings.

Many people think that such a state could never become a reality. "It is merely wishful thinking", they say, and then they continue, "There has always been war and there will always be war". But if these people live in our part of the world, and many people who say such things do, then they do not, however, say, "It has always been winter and it will always be winter". Why do they not say that? Because through the speech of the universe they have been taught something else, namely that winter slips into spring, and that after spring comes summer and autumn. Nor do they say, "It has always been night and it will always be night", because they know that morning, noon and evening will come. It is quite true that there are places on Earth where the cycle of the day and the cycle of the year are not experienced as intensely as here, where we live. There is an almost eternal summer or eternal winter, and there it is not easy for Nature to preach the message of Christmas. It cannot be preached where there is only darkness or where there is only light. A dark area was necessary, an area in which light could be defined in all its details. For this reason there are zones on Earth where the seasons form a sharp contrast to one another, and in these zones the Earth's most intense mental activity is quite naturally manifested. There the greatest opportunities for becoming acquainted with this speech of the universe in all its details are to be found, that is, opportunities for becoming acquainted with the laws of life and for ordering one's life according to them and for using them for intellectual creation. All the practical, technical and scientific development in our time has had its origin in the Occidental countries, where people, in the course of a year, experience alternating light and darkness and cold and heat, which means a widening of their horizon. The senses have been worked upon by the great diversities of Nature, and ideas about time and space and other dimensions arose, the ability to think and create developed in order that the forces of Nature could be mastered and the earth subdued.

This is not something that people have attained without any effort of their own. It has come about through the overcoming of great difficulties, whereby experience and knowledge has been gained. It is the light of spirit that has begun to form matter not merely through the forces of Nature but also through the creative consciousness of the terrestrial human being. The light of spirit overcomes darkness or ignorance. But this is of course the same principle that manifests itself in the physical world after the winter solstice, when light or warmth gradually overcomes darkness and cold, so creating spring and summer. After the mental winter darkness that mankind is experiencing at the moment a spring will come; a mental winter solstice will transform life on Earth. Just as darkness has to be created in Nature in order that the light can be defined and experienced, mental darkness must be created among terrestrial human beings, a darkness in which the light of spirit could shine and sparkle. We are passing the winter solstice in a great cosmic "cycle of the year". The message of Christmas for us is that all this darkness is a necessary step that is of benefit to people because through the dark scenery we view the world of light, the contrast to this dark scenery. On the surface it would of course have been more pleasant if people could live simply in an eternal light and warmth and did not have to worry about their daily bread but could freely enjoy the fruits of Nature. But the human being would then die of light and boredom. Light would become the killing principle instead of the life-giving principle. The ability to experience life would degenerate because of the lack of contrasts or details; then people would really be able to "die the death". But that was precisely what the serpent in the garden of Eden said to Eve would not happen to them; on the contrary "your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". The "serpent" or the "devil" express a cosmic or universal principle and are not terms for a being that is God's equal opponent. Darkness is the soil in which light can sprout and grow, in which consciousness can be born, and the narrative about the birth of Christ is not merely an account of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem such and such a long time ago, but is also a symbol of the fact that "the human being in God's image" evolves from the dark instinctive world of the animal kingdom and is transformed into a being that is initiated into the laws of life and creates a world of radiant intellectuality and love around it.

There is no darkness that is not intended to be the background for a shining light. Every living being's "Gethsemane" exists exclusively in order to be a "darkroom", in which something light and divine is to be revealed. Technology and physical science are of course not enough when a world of peace has to be created on Earth. They are the result of the human being, within a certain area, having overcome darkness with the light of thought. But technology and science are also used in the service of war thereby creating even more darkness and suffering among people. The longing for peace thereby becomes even stronger, and it is the only way to peace. Terrestrial human beings have gradually gained a background of hate, animosity, persecution, killing, mutilation, torture and many of the other effects of the great wars, and, from the everyday wars between one man and the other, they have gained a background of intrigue, gossip, envy, anger and bitterness and so on. Against this dark background the star of Christmas is lit in the mind of the human being, and it is still the old message that sounded to the shepherds on Christmas Eve but it is in a new form that suits thinking people of today who cannot be suggestionised into believing blindly in religious dogmas. "The song of the angels" becomes "the Christmas speech of the universe", and this Christmas speech is an uninterrupted repetition, with many variations, of light being turned on in the darkness.

The sun, which is the greatest source of energy within our domain in the universe, shows us that it exists only in order to send Christmas presents to everything and everyone quite unconditionally and unselfishly. It does not know the difference between the good and the evil or the just and the unjust, but radiates its energy to everyone. It provides light, energy and heat, and if it did not do so our Earth would become cold and desolate. The fact that there are nights and winter periods where the light and heat are felt less is not the fault of the sun but an effect of the earth's, and thereby our, relationship to the sun. The sun is a physical Christmas star in our little area of the universe. But there is also a spiritual Christmas star, a cosmic impulse, that hits the earth with its life-giving rays and waves. This spiritual sun also shines its light on people. It has previously done so through all the religions, through art and science, and it does it now too through spiritual science. Not all people are as yet ready to receive this new impulse, some being situated from a mental point of view so far into the dark zone of night or winter that the light from this cosmic sun or Christmas star cannot yet reach in there. But just as it is a matter of time before the physical sun makes the darkness retreat it is also merely a question of time before the rays from the new world impulse penetrate further and further into more and more people's mental winter darkness. Many seekers have already begun to feel this light in their consciousness, not a new belief or religion but a recognition of the eternal laws and principles of the universe. Where this recognition is truly rooted in the consciousness, all forms of hate and bitterness and dissatisfaction with other people will gradually disappear, a real Christmas joy will grow in the mind, a joy that can never be taken away from one. One then knows that no clouds are so dense that they cannot be separated so that the rays of light can break through the darkness, and one begins to understand that Christmas should not be celebrated merely on the 24^th or 25^th December but that it should be drawn out over the whole year. Then one is part of "the host of angels" through which the universe's Christmas speech resounds; then one gives oneself, and that is the greatest Christmas present of all.