Perhaps the most endearing and widely recognized symbol
of Christmas is the Christmas tree. Because they retain their green needles year-round,
evergreen fir trees represent eternal life.
One of the oldest stories about how the tradition of the
Christmas tree came about began with St. Boniface, a missionary in 8th
century Germany. Around the year 732, he entered a northern town and learned
that the people worshiped the god of thunder, Thor. They believed that Thor
resided in a great oak tree in the village. Boniface realized that he would
never convert the villagers to Christianity while Thor remained among them. He
announced that he was going to cut down the oak and as he began to chop at the
tree, a mighty wind blew and knocked it over. Supposedly, right next to the
mighty oak, a small fir tree was growing, which remained undamaged when the big
tree fell. Boniface told the people that the fir tree was a symbol of Christ. The
villagers turned from their pagan worship and became Christians.
The tradition of a fir tree in the house at Christmas spread and eventually traveled to the United States with German immigrants. There are many more stories out there, such as how the various decorations came to be, but you can look that up if you'd like.
When I was a kid, Mom spent what felt like hours
decorating our tree, hanging the tinsel, strand by strand. Then, after
Christmas, she actually took the tinsel off the tree, laid it carefully in a
box and saved it until the following year. For those of you who don’t remember,
this was not the tinsel we have today (or does anyone even use tinsel anymore?);
this stuff was thick and gutsy. It could actually be re-used.
As it is my tree is up, the lights are on it, and I don’t know when I’ll get around to hanging the ornaments. I have some time yet.
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