All
of my life, I have loved my family’s tradition of traipsing through the woods
to cut and decorate a real tree that filled our home with the fragrance of
evergreen. Strings of lights wrapped warm colors around the branches and a
wealth of ornaments (each with a story) dangled in the glow. In the shade
beneath the tree, carefully chosen gifts gradually appeared, while carols
played on the radio.
For
many years, I’ve truly enjoyed that tradition. But this year, after I’d
recorded, briefly watched, and deleted “Christmas specials” on television, the
false gaiety made me sad as one show after another was neither special nor
relevant to the annual mass for Christ – The One for Whom this holy day is named.
Even
Santa Claus aka Saint Nicholas (an actual Christian Bishop in the fourth
century) doesn’t seem to get top billing, but uniformly decorated trees grow on
every channel as do commercials that bulge -- bigger and bolder every day.
And so
this year, we set aside the fake tree and boxed ornaments in favor of a
nativity set with large ceramic figures placed in or around a wooden stable
with non-carnivorous animals alongside the scene. The set sits on a wooden bench in our living
room with colorful gifts placed way off to the side to keep the focus where it
belongs.
What
a difference this change of emphasis makes! Instead of walking through the room, wondering if I’d forgotten
anyone or worrying about whether they’ll like the gifts I bought, I see the
beautiful reminder of that first holy night when Jesus Christ was born.
May
we never forget Christ in Christmas.
MaryHarwell Sayler, ©2019
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