MEN COURAGEM

O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREE?

WRITER: RICHARD BURGUET

My family has a tradition I started many years ago, and it has become legendary. It is the tradition of the annual post-Thanksgiving Christmas tree acquisition. Here are a few highlights from the years.

Being a pastor, my family and I have moved to new places several times, but our homes always had one constant at the holidays: a freshly cut Christmas tree. The way that tree is selected, however, has varied dramatically over the years. One year my son and I decided to go out to a piece of property we leased and cut our own “wild” Christmas tree. To make a long story short, we couldn’t find one. As men, we knew how to “solve” the problem. We cut two cedar trees and fastened them together with duct tape and bailing wire. It was a glorious moment of manly camaraderie as my son and I admired our creation. We might have actually pulled off the two-in-one idea if the trees had not come apart when we brought them through the front door. My wife and three daughters were aghast at the “beauty” of the tree. My girls still remind me of that tree every year.

But I have to confess. The two-in-one tree was not an original idea but, in fact, a family tradition passed down by my father. My parents lived in Houston and had a home with a high cathedral ceiling; therefore, Dad decided one of the young pine trees nearby would fill the space nicely. He came home with a 30-foot pine treetop and attached it to a base tree. After a little trimming, everything in the house smelled woodsy and like Christmas. My mother and my wife thought it was atrocious. I have continued this “family tradition” to the best of my ability.

Another year, my family and I were driving home from West Virginia after a Thanksgiving celebration. The women folk in my clan wanted to avoid one of my fantastic tree selection “specials” and were delighted when they spotted signs for a Christmas tree farm in the mountains of West Virginia. I had two problems: the first was trekking through freezing snow. The second problem — getting the four women in my family to agree on the perfect tree — was much more challenging. Thus, after several hours trudging up and down the snow-covered hills of the tree farm with a saw in my cold hand, I finally had enough. I found a tree, explained to them the beauty of it, and cut it down. Did you know those trees are sold by the foot? So, with my wallet much lighter, I strapped the tree to the roof and drove the rest of the way home. It still looked good when we got it home except for the tilt to one side. I think the ground where we had cut the tree may not have been flat.

Oh, there are more tales to tell but I won’t share them here. We still do the Christmas tree acquisition together, but our holiday traditions go far beyond that. Our celebrations are about remembering the past, laughing, and having good-natured fun. We also celebrate the great things God has done in each of our lives in spite of our silly ideas. Those traditions give us a reason to forget the distractions that crowd life and focus on being a family.

The holidays offer the perfect opportunity to pass on to children the value of being family as well as the heritage and memories that make our family histories unique. It is a time to revel face-to-face in the joys of the season. It is also the time to reflect on how God has sustained us as a loving family through not only the calendar year but also over the generations.

Now that my family is grown and living in other cities, we have an excuse to be together that cannot be ignored. After all, if they don’t show up here for Thanksgiving, who will prevent Dad from acquiring another “beautiful” (not to mention free) Christmas tree?