A Gift of God's Creation--by Linden Malki

One of the most common decorations used at Christmas is the "Christmas Tree", which grew out of the northern European custom of using various evergreen branches as decorations.  There is a legend that St Boniface, the original British missionary to the German tribes in the early 700's,  cut down a large oak tree used in the worship of Thor and showed the people that there was no reaction from the supposed god. Boniface saw a small fir tree growing in the midst of the roots of the felled oak, and he pointed it out as a sign of the Christian faith as it pointed to heaven.

  The first known modern Christmas Tree was put up by a merchants' guild in Riga, Latvia, in 1510. By the late 1500's, it was widely used in the Baltic cities.  Also in the late 1500's there is a story of Martin Luther, walking in the woods and seeing stars shining through the branches of a small evergreen tree, and he is said to have brought home a similar tree and lighted it with small candles. 


The custom of decorating a fir tree as part of a Christmas celebration was brought to the US by Hessian soldiers at the time of the Revolutionary War in the 1780's, but the main establishment of using a Christmas Tree as a shared community decoration came to England with the marriage of Queen Victoria to her German cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coberg in 1841.  They were usually lit by small candles attached to the branches, but the development of electric lighting for Christmas trees in 1882 made possible the large community trees that have become a major part of the season, and also made it safer to use them as part of household decorations.

The use of the Christmas tree as part of our Christmas celebration is an interesting illustration of the ways that traditional symbols can become "baptised" with meanings appropriate for the underlying reason for the season. The custom of celebrating the coming of Jesus at the time of the year that the daylight is returning is an example how we can use a phenomenon created as part of our world as a reminder of our Creator's provision.  Providing a tree that keeps its beauty throughout the year, and is shaped to pull our gaze upward is a gift. Using lights at this season is a reminder that we celebrate the greatest gift of all: the Light of the Word has come!