6. What is the Christ?
The roadmap Home is in this one passage; seek the face of Christ in yourself and in others. Thus, once you have seen, it is the end of all learning and the end of all searching. You are Home. But what is the Christ? What exactly are we looking for? What does this “face of Christ” look like?
“So therefore let us seek to find Christ’s face and look on nothing else. As we behold His glory, will we know we have no need of learning or perception or of time, or anything except the holy Self, the Christ Whom God created as His Son” (ACIM Part II, 6. What is the Christ? 5:2-3).
If you were asked to envision the Christ, perhaps an image from a previous teaching or doctrine, or your childhood, would come to mind. Most likely one of Jesus. There was a musical named after him after all, Jesus Christ Superstar! Some may envision the one painted by art prodigy Akiane, daughter of atheist parents who painted the face of a man, later dubbed as Jesus, who kept coming to her in visions when she was eight-years-old. I also like to note that this picture, “Prince of Peace,” shares an uncanny resemblance to musical artist, Kenny Loggins. Which leads me into the explanation that Christ was not just one person who happened to walk the earth more than 2,000 years ago. The Christ, simply stated is the name for the Child of God. Which is you. Which is me. Which is all of our brothers and sisters. Like the “Prince of Peace” and Kenny Loggins share a similarity, so do we all.
The Christ that is each of us, signifies and proves our oneness. The Light within each of us, that we all share, can all be traced back to the same birthday and the same Source. And what it means to be the Christ is to see this oneness that is in all of us. It is seeing beyond the body-mind to the heart that unites us all. In doing so, we no longer see an image of Jesus Christ but of the One Light, the Child of God, the beauty of God, that lies within each being.
“The Holy Spirit reaches from the Christ in you to all your dreams, and bids them come to Him, to be translated to truth. He will exchange them for the final dream which God appointed as the end of dreams. For when forgiveness rests upon the world and peace has come to every Son of God, what could there be to keep things separate, for what remains to see except Christ’s face?” (ACIM Part II, 6. What is the Christ? 4:1-1-3)
Peace reigns over us when we no longer see each other as separate, as someone who could harm us, hurt us, be better than us, etc. When we see the face of God in everyone, including ourselves, we truly want only the best for All, because the best for All means the absolute best for that one Light that abides in each of us.
“Christ is God’s Son as He created Him. He is the Self we share, uniting us with one another, and with God as well. He is the Thought Which still abides within the Mind that is His Source. He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was created. He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God” (ACIM Part II, 6. What is the Christ? 1:1-5).
Christ is the living expression of Light in human form. It is the walking, breathing, living presence of God on earth. And the kicker is, the name “Christ” doesn’t even have to be used. It is a holy state of being that we have come to title with the word “Christ” in the English language or “Cristo” in Spanish. The names can change across cultures, and you can even create a new one if you wish, but what is true shall be true always, the eternal Light within us that identifies us as a Child of God. Born in oneness, returning to oneness, as we claim our oneness.
As we approach the following lessons, let us be reminded each day of the Child of God that is before us, always. The One in our mirror. The One at work. The One in our family. The ONE that is in ALL. The ONE that leads us all Home. Namaste.