Its December 25th and your running down the stairs ready to open your presents. Which one first? The red the blue, the big the small? Should we open the stockings or go straight for the big ones? Breakfast or presents? Of course we want to open the biggest box under the Christmas tree, but have you ever wondered why in the world we have a Christmas tree? What is it supposed to represent? How come its always an evergreen? Why do we put lights on it? I sure don't remember Baby Jesus in the manger with a lit up, popcorn decorated evergreen...
Before there was even Christianity people have been erecting some kind of evergreen as a sign of hope. You never see anybody with regular tree, this is because the evergreen has been a significant representation of life in the winter. Civilizations from the Romans to the Egyptians used the evergreen as a sign and a hope for the upcoming spring. They didn't have whole trees, but they decorated their temples and homes with boughs and reefs of evergreen. This is why we use an evergreen for our christmas trees.
It is not historical fact, but it is widely believed that Martin Luther, the 16th century protestant reformer, had one night looked up into the night sky and had seen the many stars among the evergreens. He wanted his to capture the sight for his family to enjoy so he added lighted candles to a tree. Today we don't have that fire hazard thankfully, we have our electric lights.
Today a christmas without a christmas tree seems wrong. It has grown in so much popularity that every year in New York, presented by the Rockefeller Center, giant christmas trees are put up with over 25,000 lights and decorations.
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This topic you chose was really interesting. We always go get our tree, but never know why. I really liked that it was a sign of hope, which is a really nice message for the holidays. It is true that today Christmas without a tree would be incomplete, but we have to think about the damage we are causing on our earth. Every year taking millions of trees out of the earth to bring into our homes, and let them die in less than twenty days. It is really sad...
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