My Christmas Blessing #10

 

Today we traveled to the mountains and found our gorgeous Christmas tree.  A Noble Fir that is indeed noble and straight.  Then, of course, a stop at our favorite cafe in Ucon for a hearty breakfast.  This tree is the center of a wonderful Holiday celebration as my sweet handsome has been very ill for the past two Christmases and I chose to not celebrate until he was better.  This year, he is better!  Not all the way like we would like, but blessings because he was not suppose to make it this long.  Our home smells of beautiful mixed aromas of apple pie and pine!  The beautiful scents of Christmas!

 

The evergreen was an ancient symbol of life during the midst of winter.  Romans decorated  their houses with evergreen branches during the New Year, and ancient inhabitants of northern Europe cut evergreen trees and planted them in boxes inside their homes during winter time.    By the early Middle Ages, the legend had grown that when Christ was born in the dead of winter, every tree miraculously shook off its ice and snow and produced new shoots of green.  Not until the Renaissance are there clear records of trees being used as symbol of Christmas; beginning in Latvia in 1510 and Strasbourg in 1521.  Legend credits the Protestant reformer Martin Luther with inventing the Christmas tree, but the story has little historical facts. 

 

The most likely theory is that Christmas trees started with medieval plays.  Dramas depicting biblical themes as part of the church's worship, but by the late Middle Ages, they had become rowdy, imaginative performances dominated by lay people and taking place in the open air.  The plays celebrating the Nativity were linked to the story of the Creation; in part, because Christmas Ever was also considered the feast day of Adam and Eve.  As part of the play of the day, the Garden of Eden was symbolized by the "paradise tree" hung with fruit.  These plays were banned in many places in the 16th century and people began to set up "paradise trees" in their homes to compensate for the public celebration that they could no longer enjoy.  The earliest Christmas trees, actually evergreen branches, used in homes were referred to as "paradises".  They were often hung with round pastry wafers symbolizing the Eucharist, which developed into the cookie ornaments decorating German Christmas trees today!  We are so in love with our Gingerbread men cookies that seem to come to life on our tree and make for tasty treats!!

 

It took a long time for trees to become associated with presents.  Though legend connects the idea of Christmas gifts with the gifts that the Magi brought Jesus, the real story is more complicated.,  Like trees, the gifts were first a Roman practice, traded during the Winter solstice.   In the English speaking world, the union of gifts, and Christmas was due to the influence of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, a native of Saxony, now part of Germany.  German immigrants had brought the custom of the Christmas trees with them in the early 1800s, but it spread widely after Victoria and Albert set up an elaborate tree for their children at Windsor Castle in 1841.  At this point, Christmas presents were usually hung on the Christmas tree itself.

 

As many of us make trees and gifts the center of our own Christmas practice, we would do well to remember that they are ultimately symbols of the One who gave himself to unite Heaven and Earth, and who brings all barren things to flower.  As with my family, we are grateful for the simple blessing of our Christmas tree to remind us how we are celebrating life because ..

 

I ride the dark horse ..

 

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