Christmas reminds us that Christ is born within every one of us—an inner, individual experience rather than a merely cultural celebration. Every year, we have a fresh opportunity to open our hearts more deeply and allow this birth to become more real in our lives. The story of Jesus’s birth is significant not just historically or symbolically but personally: it must take place in you if it is to transform your life.

This understanding does not diminish Jesus’s importance as a real historical figure who influenced humanity’s spiritual evolution. Rather, it emphasizes that his life story becomes truly meaningful only when we see ourselves in it—when the “Christ Child” grows within our own being. Interestingly, we do not even need to intellectually grasp the story in order to participate in its power. Christmas is ultimately an experience, and like any profound experience, it transcends words and mental explanations.

Many mystics have described an inner sense of expectancy during the Christmas season, likening it to feeling pregnant with a new presence or spirit. They experience a growing awareness of something sacred within them, much the way an expectant mother becomes increasingly aware of the soulful presence of the child in her womb. This relationship deepens as one’s attention is directed inward, nurturing and welcoming the divine spark into greater fullness.

Viewed from a mystical perspective, every event in Jesus’s life symbolizes stages of our own spiritual growth. In the Christmas story, each of us plays the role of Mary, heeding the angel Gabriel’s announcement at the core of our being. This “good news” signals the birth of a divine awareness or Christ consciousness within us. The joy, awe, and wonder we often associate with the Christmas spirit mirror Mary’s wonder upon hearing that she would bear the Christ Child. It is an invitation for each of us to say “yes” to that sacred presence stirring within.

At Christmas, we celebrate not only a memory from long ago but also the ever-present possibility of a new spiritual life being born within us. This birth has the power to renew and transform, as each new season offers us the choice to embrace or ignore the miracle happening inside. By shifting our focus to the divine spark within, the Christmas story becomes our own story—and in that way, it remains eternally alive and full of meaning.