December 20 Advent thoughts

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. Isaiah 11:1

This verse has nothing to do with a Christmas tree. But that is the way of things today. We make a lot of stuff up to fit whatever we want to present. Christmas is pagan, the celebration is Roman, the tree is (insert your particular ethnic people here). And the REAL truth is that these too can be argued as false with about 3 minutes of serious research, most of these ideas fairly modern, coming out of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ and a desire to separate all things ‘spiritual’ from life. And so with the ‘Christmas tree’. But when I see one in a family home, I don’t try to analyze this historical significance. Well, not at first, anyway. Instead, I look and wonder about the love and memories, hopes, desires and joy that is there. Our own tree is festooned with memories-hand made ornaments we got our first year we were married in Germany, ornaments the kids made when they were young. Susan has a ‘host of heavily Angels’ which are clothes pin ornaments she made as a child. There is one of a little wandering hobo boy with a knapsack my grandmother gave me a few years before she passed because she said it reminded her of me-and honestly to this day I wonder how she knew how my life would turn out. There is one small tree (mine) that is dedicated to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, one (Susan’s) that is completely Peanuts themed. All of the Wizard of Oz ornaments are on Virginia’s tree upstairs. And as we decorate them we talk about what each ornament means, who made it, where we got it and we just talk and laugh and remember. Maybe that is the whole idea of this custom. To laugh, reminisce and-most importantly-to remind us of happiness and joy and love. That is the fruit that comes from this stump. Just as the shoot from the dead stump of Jesse was the fruit of God’s complete love for us, so too can this dead tree in our living room remind us of love. And if we think of love, how much more love can be shown that the God of all creation came here, born just like us, so that from the dead we can live. For me, that is what the Christmas tree is all about. Love.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas Tree,

How sturdy God has made the!

Thou bidd’st us all place faithfully,

Our trust in God, unchangingly

-Oh Tannenbaum, written by E. Anschutz, 1824