On Winter Solstice, 2016
By Mike Evans
In each of the forty years we have been married, a tree, or some form of a tree has made its way into our living room, at Christmas. We have enjoyed live potted trees, miniature bonsai trees, and cut trees, the tops of which receive love and honor in our house, while the stump and roots are unceremoniously left in place out on some cold mountain slope. Eventually the green tops wither and usually their destiny is uncertain, though I do save the dry branches for kindling and the main trunks for a time when a stick of wood, round and tapered might come in handy.
This year, we brought incense cedar as usual. Last year I wrote about the tree species and the occasion in a piece entitled “On Cutting Trees.” You can find it here.
This year, one picture is worth a thousand words:
Mike & Hilda Evans, Bobby & Debbie Cressey, Roxy & TJ, with two freshly cut trees
in what should be a commercial for Subaru. North Peak Canyon Ranch, Cuyamaca, December 2016.
Our “tree” takes its water from a bucket, stands fresh and green in our home, and amounts to more than decoration. This is our annual touchstone, a symbol of our love, God’s faithfulness, and His promise to us through Jesus, whose birth we celebrate. Adorning its branches with lights and ornaments is an important family ritual. While we work, Handel’s Messiah plays.
Though the following scripture is not per se about a Christmas tree, God provides a word picture of Jesus’ humble birth and the new life we have in Him.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it. Ezekiel 17:22-24