From Manger to Mastery

Merry Christmas friends,

I hope this season finds you surrounded by the people who mean the most to you.

This year marks my first Christmas as a married man, and it has taught me the beauty of starting new traditions. There’s something profoundly special about creating something uniquely ours, especially with my wife coming from a different culture.

It feels like the beginning of a legacy.

We’ve decorated the house, welcomed family into our home, and indulged in all the classic Christmas movies (Elf, Grinch, Four Christmases, Home Alone… and Die Hard for later).

This afternoon, we’re taking everyone indoor skydiving, a chance to make memories that outlast any gift.

But, this season isn’t about the decorations or the activities. Beyond the presents and the tree lies a story we all can find meaning in, regardless of belief.

It’s about a baby born in a manger, a child who grew, lived, and created a path for others to follow.

A journey from humility to greatness, offering a template for us all.

From the manger to Messiah, I believe Jesus left every man a path to personal mastery with a key clue found on his birth day.

I Have This Pattern When I Read.

I believe what makes a story rich is what is left out.

The gaps. The parts you don’t see and the parts you have to fill in.

I’ve always read books this way, first, I study the table of contents. Not because I’m impatient, but because I want to see the journey before I walk it.

Then, I skim. I look for patterns, what’s included and what’s left out, where the author lingers and where they don’t.

And I always read multiple books at the same time (thematically all the same) I’ve found this to be the best way to recognize patterns.

One author’s voice will usually call back to another’s influence, a lineage of thought that connects the dots.

It helps me understand and see what I believe is the bigger picture.

I share this because this week I was reading the Gospels and the story of Jesus’s birth.

My unique reading style supports the four Gospels and revealed something to me that I hadn’t noticed before.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all account for Jesus’s life and birth, and what they say is powerful, but how they say it and what they don’t say?

That’s where the story breathes life.

The Four Witnesses: Four Perspectives, Four Parts to Mastery

It’s interesting, there are four Gospel accounts to describe His life.

Why does Matthew focus on lineage, while Mark dives straight into action? Why does Luke linger on Mary’s song and the shepherds, while John begins with the Word? It’s in their differences, their overlaps, and their omissions that I think we see a bigger picture.

The Gospels tell the story of Jesus, but they don’t all tell it the same way. Each writer saw Him through a different lens, and in their perspectives, they emphasized different details.

I believe how we describe our experience showcases much more about who we are than what we see, while giving insight into aspects of our personality.

Take, for example…

If two people were to describe the same situation.

One person says, "I think," "I read," "I said."

Another person says, "I feel," "I sensed," "I felt."

It can be the same moment, but a very different reality depending on who [personality and preference] experienced it.

But, can Truth exist from only ONE perspective?

That’s the question I took into reading this week.

And here is what I saw.

If you were standing in front of the triangle on the left you would see only the triangle and could believe based on your perspective that that is the complete picture, what you see is true.

But, if you step back and gain some distance you would quickly realize that the side you saw is simply a part of the full picture.

The “truth” or total experience of something is 4 dimensional, not one.

Thoughts and feelings, experience and action, when combined show truth, and with only one perspective, we see but a fraction.

As I was reading this week in preparation for Christmas, this is what was revealed through the four gospels.

• Matthew, has a Spiritual Perspective. The one who connects Jesus to the prophecies. The fulfillment of promises. He starts with genealogy. The bridge between heaven and earth. Matthew shows us Jesus rooted in faith, obedience, and divine purpose. He reflects the perspective of a Priest.

• Mark, has a Physical Perspective. He completely skips the nativity scene. No time to waste. Mark gives us Jesus in motion. Healing, fighting injustice, casting out demons. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ…” (Mark 1:1). Urgent and bold. Mark reminds us that faith without action is dead. He reflects the action of a Warrior.

• Luke, has an Emotional Perspective. The beauty of humanity. The joy of Mary’s song, the awe of the shepherds, the tenderness of Jesus with the lost and broken. Luke paints with emotion and connection, reminding us of the power of love and story. Luke lingers on emotion, reflecting an Artist.

• John, has an Intellectual Perspective. “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1). Focused on wisdom and truth. Deep waters. The Word made flesh. The eternal light that shines in the darkness. John’s Gospel isn’t just a story, it’s a meditation, a revelation. He invites us to think deeply, to seek wisdom and truth. John represents the Scholar.

Together, they give us a complete picture of Jesus the King, a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual experience of Him and a template for our own personal mastery, faith, action, compassion, and wisdom.

But, back to the question, can you experience truth from only one perspective?

Whether it be Him or your own pursuit of a masterful path?

Of course not, faith, fitness, family and finances, that is fulfillment.

Spirit, body, heart and mind that is the truth of who we are.

The Four Stages of a King

I think what we see in the Gospels of Jesus’s life is he didn’t just live these archetypes.

He lived them as a progression.

From discipline in His Father’s house, (Faith/Being), to mastering His physical flesh through temptation in the desert (Fitness/Doing), through connection and relationship in His ministry (Family/Feeling), and finally as a sage where His words impact long after He is gone (Finances/Thinking).

From manger to Messiah, four parts, four stages, four archetypes making up one story and one King.

I believe He left this here for us to discover, to see the template as a process of self-discovery, one in which we can live out and impact others as balanced 4 dimensional men.

Today the baby is born, and perhaps something can take seed in you today as well, but it’s the life of the man, the stages of his maturity and the archetypes that should inspire so much more.

• The Priest: Foundation in Faith. In His earliest years, Jesus was rooted in faith. The visit to the Temple at twelve, His obedience to Mary and Joseph, His quiet preparation. Everything began with connection to God.

• The Warrior: Bold Action and Sacrifice. His ministry was a battle, healing the sick, confronting the powerful, casting out darkness. Courage, sacrifice, urgency. The warrior steps into the fire.

• The Artist: Compassion and Connection. Through parables, miracles, and relationships, Jesus connected with the hearts of people. He reached the outcasts, the broken, the unseen. He created meaning, beauty, and hope.

• The Scholar: Wisdom and Mastery. In the end, Jesus revealed the fullness of His wisdom, the cross, the resurrection, the legacy. Ultimate truth. Ultimate mastery.

• The King: Oneness

The foundation of faith prepares you for the battle. The battles teach you compassion. And through compassion, you gain wisdom. This isn’t just His story, it’s ours.

Christmas is a celebration of beginnings.

A child in a manger. Humble. Small.

But, that child was a King, and His life was a path, from the humility of the manger to the mastery of the cross.

From beginning to fullness. From promise to purpose.

That same path is open to each of us, if we are willing to walk it.

Honor to Christ the King, the baby who was born today and the life and sacrifice his he lived.

And honor to the King in you my friend, may today be a new beginning on the path to your personal Mastery.

May you set traditions, create impact, lead, love and be bold.

GROW KING.

Much love and many blessings.

E