Oh Christmas Tree

I am interrupting the vacation story to blog about Christmas. So Merry Christmas everyone.

When I was single I had this pathetic looking tree. I don't even think it was a Christmas tree, I think I just bought something that had some pine needles on it. Now my wife and I have two Christmas trees. We bought one with pre-lit white lights and got a great deal on another with colored lights. We use the bigger one for the living room. My wife decorates it with all the nice pretty ornaments that she has collected over the years. The other tree is my tree. I recently started a collection of cartoon ornaments. I have Muppets, Peanuts and Looney Toones.

Looking at the two Christmas trees had me thinking that they do represent what Christmas is about. They are covered with things that we love or remember. Along with my cartoon ornaments, are some very old glass bulbs that were handed down to me from my parents. Most belonged to my Dad when he was a kid. I love looking at my tree and seeing those old ornaments and remembering Christmases past. I would be awake all night waiting for Santa, trying to hear when he would show up. Our chimney was not very safe, but I knew when he left because he would slam the front door. I would be the first out of bed. It did not matter if it was 3:00 in the morning, I would have everybody up to see what Ol' Saint Nick left.

On the other tree, my wife and I started a collection of buying an ornament that represents where we went on vacation. We recently got to add a star fish and a sombrero that we bought in Mexico on our cruise. There are also ornaments from Sea World, Bush Gardens and one from Disney that we got on our honeymoon that started it all. Christmas trees have personalities that represent the things we love or loved in the past.

Where did the Christmas Tree come from;

"There is no evidence that the modern custom of a Christmas tree originated in paganism. The Romans did decorate their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. Late in the Middle Ages, the Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees in their homes or outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. The modern-day Christmas tree evolved from these early German traditions. " From allabouthistory.org

Then consider what we put under the Christmas tree....PRESENTS!!! We buy gifts for the people in our life to show how much we love them. We stress out trying to find the perfect gift to show how much we love that person. We try to teach kids it's not the getting it's the giving.

So why did I pick Christmas Trees as my topic for this joyful season. Because it is the theme of my favorite Christmas TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” There is a scene where Charlie Brown and Linus are picking out a tree and Charlie Brown picks out the worst looking tree in the lot. Linus had two of the best lines in the story. The second one is;

Linus says: "I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love."

Isn't that Christmas, showing people a little love. Not just family and friends. But this is a time of year we are nice to strangers and maybe go out of our way for those less fortunate. The Christmas season seems to be a time when everyone tries to show a little love to each other.

But lets face it, all we really care about is the gifts. That is what Christmas is about the Gift. The gift of the Son from the Father to us all. The gift of the Savior or as Linus would put it from the ornament that started my collection (you may need to turn up the volume on your speakers);

Merry Christmas Everyone.