Ornaments

As I sat at my desk in the early hours of the day this morning, I allowed myself to get a little sidetracked and began to pray about today’s post.  Almost immediately the word “ornaments” popped into my head.  With my lightning fast mind I thought that this just might be a word from the Lord, so I began to let my imagination ponder the pictures and thoughts that it brought forth.  I immediately pictured our Christmas tree decked out in a colorful array of ornaments that we had collected over the years.  I remembered my favorite clear glass ornament that would send me scurrying through each box marked “Christmas” as my Dad would hand them down to us three kids from the attic in the garage.  It is kind of funny in that after my wife and I were married, I went through my folk’s ornaments and found two different clear glass ornaments and to this day, I cannot recall which one was the favored decoration of my childhood!

My wife worked at a Christian Preschool for a year before and then two or three years after we were married.  She was the youngest member of the staff and to be honest probably didn’t look much older than 16 when she started the job.  I would think that the kids probably looked at her as more of a big sister than a teacher!  One of the highlights of her stay there was the multitude of unique Christmas ornaments that the kids showered her with each Holiday season.  We still have the majority of those ornaments and they always have held a special place in our hearts. 

A few years ago we splurged and replaced all of the old hand me down ornaments that we had inherited from our parents and grandparents (as they updated their decorations!) with wonderful new and shiny ones to hang alongside the preschool and other favorite decorations that we had collected throughout the years with our children.  The new ornaments even included a beautiful golden star to adorn the very pinnacle of the tree!  After 30 some years, we felt like we had finally arrived with the decorations of our dreams!

History tends to establish the beginnings of the tradition of placing ornaments on the tree in 15^th century Germany when ornaments made of roses, fruits and nuts were hung along with the plain white candles that were the only decorations on the tree for many previous years.  One of the most popular legends of the origins of the Christmas tree says that it was first introduced to the faithful in Germany in the 5^th or 6^th century by a Catholic Monk named Boniface, who later became the patron saint of Germany.  Saint Boniface used the tree as an object lesson for the simple and uneducated people explaining how the triangular shape of the tree represented the Holy Trinity.  In 1605 a tree in the city of Strasbourg in eastern France was brought indoors and decorated.  This was said to be a ground breaking moment as it began a new trend of adorned trees in an indoor setting.*

As with many of the traditions that we enjoy each year during the Christmas Holidays (including the very celebration of Christmas itself!), the Christmas tree and the ornaments that we decorate it with began as a way to bring the knowledge of God into a more personal understanding and intimate worship of Him.  These origins have gotten lost in translation and celebration in our country over the years, to the point where it is now deemed offensive if we call it Christmas instead of the Holiday Season!  I had a store manager in our Home Depot in Oklahoma who made a bold stand at an employee meeting declaring (in spite of corporate standards) that “in my store, it will always be called Christmas!”

That’s the declaration that I think all of us should make this year.  But it need not be in a manner that is abusive or offensive to those who don’t understand the true meaning of the Holiday, but as the simple way that we live our lives.  Like the love of God, it should be demonstrated more by our actions of self-giving and joy than by our empty words.  I John 3:18 in the God’s Word translation encourages us by saying: “Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.”  The King James version terms these empty words as “vain jangling!”  (See: I Timothy 1:6)  I love that phrase… even has sort of a Holiday jingle to it doesn’t it?  (Just make sure that your words aren’t jangles in the ear of your listeners this year!) 

 

I think that is the real meaning and power behind the “Holiday Spirit” that is talked about during this time of the year.  Let your actions be the contagious spirit that those around you catch this year!  Let’s start an epidemic… an epidemic of His love, His joy and His peace!  Have another great day!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting TO SPREAD today?”

 

* http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/christmas_ornaments.htm