Early morning

6:00 a.m. and I'm awake for no good reason. After writing this I'm going to go back to bed and try reading myself to sleep. I do have an awful lot on my mind, but no more than anyone else this time of year, of that I would bet. I could make a boring list of everything on my mental plate, but I think I'll skip that. Instead, I'll write just a small observation about my trip to the mountains this weekend - something that will bring me great joy throughout this Christmas season. 

I was driving over Hoosier Pass (very curvy, hairpin turns, amazing views!) south from Breckenridge and then across South Park (a strange bowl of land that a million years ago was a lake). Christmas music was filling my car and "Oh, Tannenbaum" came on. Such a strange song about a tree, ever-green, and lovely. I was reminded of the many symbols that fill our Christmas celebrations and how many of their meanings have been lost to public knowledge. Here's just one.

The Christmas tree, the evergreen, was first used by pagans in celebration of the winter solstice as a reminder that winter would indeed come to an end. For that, I think we're all thankful. I think it can be a symbol of even  greater significance to me at Christmastime - the everlasting life of Christ, whose birth is my entire reason for celebration. What a joyous reminder to me as I drove through those tree-covered mountains, evergreens filling my view.

 

No matter how hectic I get, no matter what I have going on at Christmas, I would like to keep that reminder in the forefront of my mind. Christmas for me isn't about presents, carols, or beautiful wreaths - it is about celebrating the greatest birthday the world will ever know - the birthday that was perhaps the most humble. Born in a stable, surrounded by animals, no one to tend to the young mother but a single husband, straw for his bed. And yet he is my King, and my Savior. Amazing!