Oh, Christmas Tree!

Put up that Christmas tree. I know you’re thinking about letting it go this year. After all, the kids are grown now and the house only holds a person or two. Why bother, you ask yourself. Especially this year.

Digging through the attic/basement/closet for all those decorations. Rearranging the living room to accommodate that tired tree. Why go to all the work and mess?

I’ll tell you why. You NEED your Christmas tree. Now more than ever. It holds memories that will fill your heart with more warmth than any blazing fireplace. More tenderness than the softest whisper. And more joy than a heart can bear.

Your tree lays there in its trash bag or worn cardboard box, just waiting to be touched by familiar hands. Though not as sturdy as it once was—maybe a bit wobbly or bare in spots—it still embodies the magic of your family in its branches.

In a world shivering in cynicism and shallowness, you had your Christmas tree to remind you of all the things that mattered.

The paper chains and popcorn garlands that circled your tree told the story of sweet simplicity. The homemade ornaments your children made marked the passage of years more succinctly than any timepiece.

Styrofoam balls covered with sequins. Gumdrop snowmen, squished together with earnest hands and innocent eyes. Pipe cleaner candy canes that found themselves higher and higher up the tree each year as little arms grew longer.

Plug in that strand of twinkle lights. Remember the way their reflection glowed in your new baby’s eyes? Stand back and let the magic of yesterday jump from bulb to bulb. You will feel the softness of time snuggling around your heart like fuzzy, footed pajamas. Your arms will remember the weight of growing children; the eager tug of excited hands begging for a closer look.

Now. Wrap up a few things and place them under your tree. It doesn’t matter what you put inside. It never did. The joy was always in the shaking, the guessing, the tearing open and peering inside.

Imagine those tiny Christmas morning faces, dopey with unfinished sleep and glowing from holiday dreams. Remember how much you wanted to make those dreams come true. And remind yourself how much love you can fit inside the smallest, plainest box.

Your babies are all grown and gone. I know. Their lives are strewn here and there, like carelessly tossed tinsel. They have their own Christmas trees now and they are filling them with new memories. But while they bustle about and busy themselves with the future, you can sit back and enjoy your own magnificent tree: the one that holds yesterday within its branches.

It is decorated with precious memories and priceless treasures. Golden giggles. Wide-eyed wonder. And love as purely given as three Magi offered to a baby King.

Don’t waste another minute. Put up that Christmas tree. It is waiting to fill your heart with Heavenly Peace.

Contact Robin at robinwrites@yahoo.com