All of my life, I have loved my family’s tradition of traipsing through the woods to cut and decorate a real tree that filled our home with the fragrance of evergreen. Strings of lights wrapped warm colors around the branches and a wealth of ornaments (each with a story) dangled in the glow. In the shade beneath the tree, carefully chosen gifts gradually appeared, while carols played on the radio.
For many years, I’ve truly enjoyed that tradition. But this year, after I’d recorded, briefly watched, and deleted “Christmas specials” on television, the false gaiety made me sad as one show after another was neither special nor relevant to the annual mass for Christ – The One for Whom this holy day is named.
Even Santa Claus aka Saint Nicholas (an actual Christian Bishop in the fourth century) doesn’t seem to get top billing, but uniformly decorated trees grow on every channel as do commercials that bulge -- bigger and bolder every day.
And so this year, we set aside the fake tree and boxed ornaments in favor of a nativity set with large ceramic figures placed in or around a wooden stable with non-carnivorous animals alongside the scene.  The set sits on a wooden bench in our living room with colorful gifts placed way off to the side to keep the focus where it belongs.
What a difference this change of emphasis makes! Instead of walking through the room, wondering if I’d forgotten anyone or worrying about whether they’ll like the gifts I bought, I see the beautiful reminder of that first holy night when Jesus Christ was born.
May we never forget Christ in Christmas.
MaryHarwell Sayler, ©2019
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