With all the rushing around we are doing right now, with all the preparations we are making, in the middle of all our last minute shopping for gifts, along with all of our travel or party plans, let's take a moment to remember the inner meaning of this holiday season. We are celebrating the birth of a new understanding of the spiritual aspect of our lives. Christmas is not just a historical event; it's a state of mind that gives birth to a new way of being in this life. Christmas begins in each of our hearts as we take time to be a little gentler and friendlier with each other and with ourselves. A mystic once wrote, "Through Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born / if not in us, then we are all forlorn." Let's not be all forlorn in our rushing around this Christmas; let's remember to allow our hearts to be open to the spiritual dimension of this season—we celebrate the birth of innocence and love and peace on this earth in each of us now.