This will be our forty-fifth Christmas together. And each Yule season it’s been my job to set up our Christmas tree. In some years it’s a fir and in others a spruce. Sometimes bought from a lot, but once in a while personally selected and cut at a tree farm. Only twice, when we moved in the very midst of the holidays, did we make do with an artificial tree. And one year, when our recently occupied condo was too small for a tree, a subtropical houseplant happened to be in blossom, so we added our tiniest ornaments and dubbed it the Christmas hibiscus. There’s just something about a real tree….

My fondest recollection was a Scotch pine we got from a tree farm while living in Michigan. It had hundreds of stubby little pine cones and, as the tree warmed in our cozy living room, the pine cones began opening up, making a pleasant crackling sound. Click – click – crack. We were enjoying the piney smell and the crackling pine cones so much that we left the tree standing there for several days without any decoration!

Then one Saturday I strung our tiny white lights and put the angel on top. And the tree was – beautiful! So we left it for several days decorated with just the lights. It was becoming part of our lives and we were gradually getting to know it better and learning what it had to teach us.

Eventually we spent a family evening hanging ornaments on our new friend, the tree. Our two children were six and four, so we had one special ornament each for Christmases they’d been with us. Plus we had collected a dozen or so hand-blown glass ornaments from our first couple of years together. We weren’t yet buying decorations by the box – just one special ornament for each child and now and then adding something homemade or that simply caught our eye. To this day, these remain my favorites….

I recall that by Christmas Day our tree had been lovingly and patiently decorated. Maybe complete with tinsel, but maybe not. All I remember is that it was still crackling, still dropping Scotch pine seeds among the assembled gifts. Still lovingly and patiently warming up in our household and giving of itself to our immense treasure of joy!

And so, most years since, I’ve taken my time with each Christmas tree, getting to know it better as I allow a few days to pass between bringing it in, stringing the lights, placing a few treasured ornaments, then a few more. For me, it’s like Advent itself, thoughtfully and reverently preparing for the joyous birth of the Light of the World into our midst.