About 1,200 years ago, an English missionary name Winfrid, who was later name St. Boniface, preached to pagan tribesmen in Germany, trying to convert them to Christianity. A group of pagans were at the Oak of Geismar. They were going to sacrifice little Prince Asulf to the god Thor. Winfrid confronted them stopping their bloody sacrifice. In front of them he cut down the "blood oak". In its place, as it fell, a fir tree sprang up. Winfrid said, the fir tree was the tree of Christ, symbolizing goodness and love to be taken into their homes. Then he told them about the birth of Jesus.
Many of the settlers in the 1600 and 1700's in the new world, a world with customs strange to them, could have taken solace in this story to know God is with them when they brought the Christmas tree into their homes.
My tree is not fir. My tree is artificial, one of those I can just pull out of the box and plug in. It's already decorated. But it gives me a feeling of peace and satisfaction when it's up. I can imagine living in a one room cabin, snowed in, and celebrating one day a year with a Christmas tree.
What kind of tree will you have up for Christmas?
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