Christmas has always been a special holiday for me. Even as a nurse, aware that every year there will likely be an early rising to watch the kids get stockings then off to work for me. Once at work, it was up to nurses to bring another Christmas to ones left in the hospitals, nursing homes or just released from the hospital. For home health nurses, the home visits on Christmas often show a patient weak, perhaps regretting they begged to come home. The best part, for this nurse, has been the tree itself. Whether at home, work, hospital, stores or patient’s homes, the art of the tree itself is a wonder and a joy every year.

Because nurses are in different places during the Christmas holidays, they get a lot of different ideas on the best and the prettiest, the classiest, the countriest and all of the ‘mostiest’ in decorating a tree for Christmas. I always mean to do exactly that too, every year. Then all the decorations start to come out of the plastic tubs and all bets are off, as the kids say. There are many handmade decorations, from the time in the 1970’s when I had my first apartment all by myself, to the little construction paper rings the kids brought home and all the ones we made together, every year until they declared, “We are too big to do that Mom.”  Weird, they were never too big to make and eat the sugar cut out cookies! (Humph) Once it starts, the activity is frenetic, with everyone trying to get their favorites placed exactly where they want them to be, without regard to size, shape, or even how many should or should not be placed at the same time on one tree limb!! One year, our son had all his favorites all lined up on the same limb! Man, that was such a good tree!

Christmas trees trace their lineage back many, many years before the start of Christianity. If one were to apply critical thinking to the birthday of our Lord, it would probably be more towards Samhain than the Winter Solstice. After all, Joseph and Mary were traveling in order to pay their taxes for the year and that was done when the harvest was just completed. If The Roman Empire had waited until the start of winter, they would not have gotten very much in the way of taxes, in coin or in harvest. But that is not of relevance as far as the holiday is concerned. Nor is the fact that the tree itself was part of a pagan holiday. Even Jeremiah, wise prophet that he was, said it was pagan but to “heed it not”. In other words, it won’t help but it won’t hurt them, let them have their playtoy. Even during the holidays when the kids were not at home and we only had a small fiber optic tree the feelings of the tree and the time of year stayed the same for me. That is because it isn’t about the tree at all. It is about the reason behind the tree.

“Hear what the Lord says to you, O house of Israel.

This is what the Lord says;

Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are

Terrified of them.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman

Shapes it with his chisel.

They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.

Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because

They cannot walk.

Do not fear them; they can do no harm

Nor can they do any good

 What feelings do we get from the Christmas tree and all the lights, the decorations and all the festive dinners and parties? This is the one time in a large part of our world where, regardless which holiday any of us are actually celebrating; we are sharing it at the same time. We are all focused, not on the tree, or the gifts, or the lights and the decorations. We are just using all of that as our backdrop for the important part of the season. As much as all of us love the tree, the colors of the decorations and even the reasons the colors are chosen; white for purity, red for knowledge, green for re-birth and gold for wealth what does it really all come down to?

What it comes down to, for me, as for many of you, is one reason. It has little to do with Christian holiday; it has to do that we, as a people need to stop, step back and re-focus on what is really important. Take a tip from the grandchildren! Is it really about the money spent or is it about the time spent watching the ones you love the most play inside the big box?

Christmas trees and the time of Christmas remains the time of year when everyone, all over the world, stops for a bit during the month of December, takes a big breath, gets very still, lifts their eyes towards heaven and whispers, “Thank you, Lord.”