Traditions...

Christmas Traditions

MaKayla D. O’Riley Christmas 2009

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, I decided to do some research on our holiday traditions, especially the Christmas tree. This custom is very special in my family, as it is a fun project to work on together. We do not go out and cut down a live tree, but we do decorate an artificial one with lights, ribbons, and ornaments. This is a special time that I especially enjoy and it is also a way for our family to develop traditions of our own, such as my sister and I getting a new ornament each year!

As I did my research, it was very interesting to see how the practice was started and the different ways people celebrate. I hope that by the time you have finished reading this paper you will have a better understanding of how the Christmas tree custom came to be!

Although decorating an Evergreen tree is a symbol of the holidays and is a modern ritual of today, it originated long ago in early B.C. There has been and continues to be much controversy as to the use of these trees among different peoples and religions, due to the fact that pagans were the first to use them in their superstitious worship.

This fact led me to research what “pagan” commonly means and its main definition is “ All non-Christians or those who participate in Satanic practices”. Many people disagree about this topic as well, but this is the most widely accepted view.

The pagans would go out and cut down an Evergreen tree and place it in their homes as an idol. They then adorned it with metal ornaments and replicas of their gods. To them the trees represented life and freshness. They thought the tree had magical powers because although all other living plants died and lost their color, it remained green. They also viewed it as a sign of fertility and reproduction as they thought it increased sexual potency due to its “power” to sustain life. To them it was a promise that spring would come and a symbol of hope. The Bible has proof of this pagan worship in Jeremiah 10: 2-4.

Thus saith the Lord, “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold: they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it will not move.”

Eventually, word of this pagan practice reached all religions and each began this custom as well, yet each had their own reasons for doing so. For some it was used as an idol, for some Christians it was a sign of the birth of Jesus Christ and a symbol for the promise of eternal life in Him. For still others, it became just a sign of the Christmas holiday and the traditional festivities.

Because of its origin there is still much disagreement today over whether or not it is right for a Christian or any non-pagan to participate in this pagan practice. Most consider it just a part of Christmas and because even the pagans view it as a sign of hope, there is nothing wrong with this tradition.

I believe that this is an area in which God wants us to look at the motives of our hearts and each person decide for themselves how they will/should celebrate. Although I do not necessarily see this custom as “wrong” if you do it with the right heart and do not allow the tree to become the focus during Christmas, I do think that it is important for us a Christians to see what we allow to define our holiday traditions. I know that I am very guilty of seeing “Christmas” as shopping, decorations, family, gifts, and traditions. I allow those things to define a time of year that Christ desired to be set apart for Him.

So, I encourage you this season to examine your heart. Look where your focus is at, as I have done, and see what you will allow to define your Christmas this year!