O Tannenbaum, O Perfect Tree…

This past Friday was one of the best days of the entire Christmas season at the home of the Queens...it was the day we get our Christmas tree. Now, typically, it used to be that our entire family of three piled into the car and took off to a nearby tree lot…or in our days of living in the Georgia Mountains, we would drive up to Franklin, NC to a tree farm and there cut down the tree of our choice.

But times, they are a changing. This past Friday, our daughter headed for school and though my wife had the day off, she had a “to-do” list a mile long; so that left me to make the trip to the nearby feed and seed store to pick out the “perfect” Christmas tree. I guess, after 20 years of instruction, my wife was confident that I could do this on my own.

So, there I stood, overwhelmed with the selection of over a hundred trees of all sizes, species and prices. I made my way up and down the rows of trees and when I finally got into the area that fit our budget, I began the painstaking process of standing up each tree, shaking it so the limbs would fall out and turning it around to see its good and bad side.

As I spent time alone in the tree yard, I began to hum that old Christmas song, O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum as I carefully surveyed each potential candidate for service in our living room. I remembered my childhood and the times I spent with my Dad as we diligently sought to find the “perfect tree” that would make our Christmas a true holiday celebration of love and joy. I thought of the words in the last verse of the song that says,

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, in plainness you were growing
Until we came and brought you here and set your branches glowing.
Your living beauty helps us see how clothed in Christ our lives should be.
O Christmas, O Christmas tree; you lift our eyes toward heaven.

As I paid the attendant and loaded the tree in the back of my wife’s SUV, I thought how my work was almost done….I would get the tree home, cut the lower branches and set it into the tree stand and then bring it inside our home to its final resting place. Then, sometime, later in the day, my lovely wife and beautiful daughter would begin to adorn this tree with all the memories and treasured ornaments that have become an integral part of our holiday traditions and celebrations…..and with a little help from the foremen of decorating (that’s me), our tree would come to life …it would become the PERFECT TREE. But, for some reason, I could not shake the tune that kept running around in my mind….O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree. How lovely are thy branches? This has been a tough year in our home, as I am sure it has been for many of you…but don’t get caught up in the mentality that everything has to be perfect or Christmas will somehow be diminished….rather,

This year, as you prepare to buy and decorate your Christmas tree; take a moment to see this symbol of Christmas as a gift from the Father of lights that reminds us of the perfect gift from heaven….JESUS CHRIST….THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.

HE CAME AS A BABE ….TO DIE ON A TREE…. SO THAT WE WOULD FOREVER BE WITH HIM… O Tannenbaum, O Perfect Tree …..The one Christ bore to Calvary. This Christmas keep…..


Looking toward heaven….remembering Christ and His great gift,

WPQ



The Perfect Tree

High upon a lonely hill, above the town below
Wintry winds begin to swirl...the snow began to blow.
Trudging through the wintry mix, each step measured like the other,
Walking with my Mom and Dad, my two sisters and my brother.

Off on our yearly conquest to find the perfect tree,
To decorate for Christmas...in one week, it would be.
A time of excitement, of laughter and jubilation,
A special time that makes Christmas such a joyous celebration.

'Twas there upon that precipice stood a tree so small
That everyone overlooked it; because it was not tall.
Its branches looked like matchsticks; its tiny, barren limbs
Barely felt the winter's cold that encircled them.

Standing so straight like a sentry stands his guard
All alone to keep his watch upon this vacant yard.
My family, they marched onward; but I...I stopped to see
This tiny miracle of God...this sparse unproven tree.

I pleaded with my Mom and Dad, '"Let's take this little tree!
I know it doesn't look like much, but imagine its possibilities...""
A row of lights, some shiny balls; the tinsel placed just right.
It would be the center of attention on that very special night.

For I'm sure that the shepherds, and quite possibly the wise men too
Wondered about a tiny child and what he would someday do;
To set God's people free from sin; to fill those he met with grace...
For those who gazed on the manger's babe had seen the Father's face.

So, in each Christmas season, remember that the perfect tree
Is the one they made into the Cross of Christ…
The one He bore to Calvary.
For the real story of each Christmas Season
Has special meaning for you and me
When we understand our Father's Love and remember
The Perfect Tree!

W. Patrick Queen @ Christmas 2000