Oh Christmas Tree

Since it is getting closer to Christmas I thought I would decorate my blog as well as my home. A couple of my friends who live in other countries have sent me a picture of their Christmas trees. The one that says Feliz Navidad is from a friend in Honduras. The skinny one in the corner is from a friend in China and the other one is mine.

And on the note of Christmas trees I have seen a Christmas tree they are now selling that you can hang from your ceiling. Well today I was reading a book about Christmas traditions and I found out a few cool legends of the Christmas tree. Both I have heard before but I thought I would share them with you. However I did learn that hanging an evergreen tree from the ceiling dates back to the 12th century.

" In the seventh century, St. Boniface, a monk from Credition, Devenshire, England, constantly traveled across Europe as a missionary. On his many treks, the dynamic Boniface established hundreds of Christian churches throughout France and Germany. It has been written that on a trip to central Europe he came across a band of men who had gathered around a huge oak tree. One of these men held in his hands a small boy who had been chosen as a sacrifice to the god Thor. When he saw what was transpiring, Boniface demanded that the men stop their ritual. When they refused, the priest walked up to the old tree and struck the trunk with his fist. In an act the men viewed as a miracle, the mighty oak shuddered and then fell to the ground. As the dust settled, a tiny fir tree became visible just behind where the oak had towered. Boniface pointed the tree out to the men, explaining that the evergreen was the Tree of Life. He told them that the tree even winter could not kill stood for the eternal life offered to them by Christ. Finally he pointed to the triangular shape of the tree and stated that the fir's three points represented the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son , and Holy Ghost. Each of the men supposedly gave their lives to Christ at the spot where the tiny evergreen grew.
Five centuries later this story had become a legend, and each winter throughout France and Germany, evergreen trees were hung from ceilings as a sign of Christianity. Though history doesn't tell us why the trees were always hung upside down. This practice would continue for another 200 years."
And here is one more legend of how the Christmas tree came to be a great symbol of Christmas.
"Legend has it that Martin Luther was walking home on a dark December evening when he was struck by the beauty of the woods around his home. The German Protestant Reformer was so captivated by the way the filtered light appeared that he felt moved to duplicate this effect on the tree he had placed in his home. He tied a candleholder onto one of the evergreen's branches, put a candle in the wooden holder, and lit it. Walking to the opposite side of the tree, he studied the flickering light. He liked the effect and attached several more candles in the same way. Not only was the preacher's family impressed, so were his neighbors. A host of them added candles to their own indoor trees, and the tradition of a lighted tree was born.
Luther taught his friends and family that the tree represented the everlasting love of God. He pointed out that the color did not fade, just as the Lord's love would not fade, no matter what the circumstance or trial. The candlelight represented the hope that Christ brought to the world through his birth and resurrection. Thus, to those who knew Luther, the tree evolved into a symbol of not just Christmas but of Christian Faith in general."
Both of these stories come from a book called Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas by Ace Collins. I love to find out and remember what all of these traditions mean. Christmas is such a wonderful, joyous time of year, and yet it becomes automatic. We forget what everything really means and when we forget we don't pass it on to our children. Remember to share the meaning of every holiday tradition with your family. Even the silly things like the fact we by my mom a piece to a Christmas village every single year. It has no more meaning than the fact that my mom has always wanted a snow village and when we moved into the house they live in now she actually had room for one. So my sister and I give her new pieces every year, and every piece represents something about our family.