Greetings,
Yesterday I was asked about the meaning of the Christmas tree for us. When Roberta and I first married, we had a very large living room and at Christmas we had a very large tree. It was the top 12 feet of a 25 foot tall tree, and was about 11 feet in diameter. From part of the living room you could also look through the dining room to the open French doors of the sitting room where there was a seven foot artificial “snow” tree with “snow” constantly circulating from the top angel of the tree. For many years we had very large trees, even in much smaller living rooms. Now I have been sitting in our living room looking at our three foot little artificial tree on a small table, thinking about the significance of the tree in our faith. Much as I enjoyed our large trees with the many treasured ornaments from our families, and all those Roberta made over the years and those given to us by dear friends, I am aware that the deeper significance of the tree is the tree itself. While there are many “pagan” roots to the symbolic use of trees, there are also many roots in the scripture and Christian tradition for the symbolism of the tree in connection with life, strength, incarnation and eternal life. From the cedars of Lebanon, to the rod of Jesse’s stem to Job’s tree that is cut down and will sprout again, to the tree on Calvary, to the tree of life whose leaves are blooming all the year long, trees are a source of shelter, beauty, protection, inspiration, and faithfulness. O course, the evergreen tree also symbolizes eternal life and the eternity of God. At the same time, they remind us of our dependence upon the nurture of God. In addition to scripture, early Jewish and Christian legends of trees abound.
Dorothy Sayers, one of my favorite writers, in the play “He That Should Come” offers this account of the tree in the Garden. It may take some re-reading to enjoy the symbolism of the Incarnation, and the connection between Genesis 3:15 and the nativity accounts.
Adam and Eve stood under a tree,
A sweet and comely sight to see
For they were fair as fair could be,
Adam and Eve beneath the tree.
And on the tree the branches grew
Adorned with leaves of tender hue,
And they were fair as fair could be
And Adam and Eve stood under the tree.
And in that flower a fruit of gold
Lay hidden within the petals’ fold,
The petals of the beauteous flower
That budded and bloomed from hour to hour,
The flower that on the branches grew
Adorned with leaves of tender hue,
And it was fair as fair could be,
And Adam and Eve stood under the tree.
But Eve put forth her hand anon,
And bit that fruit unto the stone.,
The strange, forbidden fruit of gold
That hid within the petal’s fold,
That budded and bloomed from hour to hour,
The flower that on the branches grew
Adorned with leaves of tender hue,
And the tree withered down to the ground so bare,
And Adam and Eve stood naked there.
But when the stone had fallen to earth,
It brought another tree to birth,
That tall and stately grew anon,
The tree that sprang from that fruit stone,
The strange forbidden fruit of gold
That hid within the petals’ fold,
The petals of the beauteous flower
That budded and bloomed from hour to hour,
That flower that on the branches grew
Adorned with leaves of tender hue,
And it was fair as fair could be,
And Adam and Eve stood under the tree.
Yours & His,
DED
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