I may be a heathen but I enjoy the Christmas season. Of course you won’t find much about the season in the Bible – it was an add on to bring Christianity into the winter solstice celebrations.
One of those pre Christian traditions is the Yule tree. This was forcasted to be the last dry day here in the Pacific NW for at least a week so I took my mother up to the tree farm a couple of miles from here to pick out a tree. She did – I cut it – brought it into the house and she spent an enjoyable afternoon decorating it. As care giver for my 88 year old mother coming up with enjoyable afternoons is in my job description.
But you cut down a tree some will say. I must admit I really don’t understand the logic of this reaction. My alternative is a phony tree made in China from oil and shipped to the the US in a ship burning bunker crude and polluting the air over the Pacific Ocean. The tree I cut had been absorbing Carbon Dioxide and emitting Oxygen for 8 to 10 years and since it’s a Noble Fir a new tree will grow out of the stump I left. As we grow older each Christmas becomes more important. My sister and brother will be travelling from afar this holiday season – the best present my 88 year old mother could have.