Decorating the Christmas Tree

 Today I decorated our Christmas tree.  Bob and I got a beautiful 6’ tall Noble fir on Monday and he put it up in the stand yesterday. It is always my job to put on the lights and decorate the tree.  It took me time to overcome my gloom this morning from all the bad news about the pandemic and even warnings about more fire danger in our area this weekend.  That seemed like too much to bear for me.  But after a long zoom conversation with a dear friend, I felt buoyed up.  It is always a trip down memory lane when I unpack the ornaments.  I have come to a pattern of how I put them on.  First go the stars—-first there must be light in these dark times.  Advent is a dark time, a time of waiting for the light to come.  So the stars go on the tree, stars from Sweden, stars from Denmark,  Then the angels go on—-angels bringing the good news of a coming light, of Jesus’ birth.  Angels from all the places we’ve lived.  Macrame angels I made from the 70’s in Oak Ridge, straw angels from Denmark (they’re big on straw ornaments), silver angels from who knows where and little wooden angels from Norway.  Then the toy ornaments, sleds from Norway, a small nutcracker from Germany, and lots of hearts because hearts represent love.  Christmas is all about God’s love coming to us and us sharing our love with others.  Then I put on the birds, because I love birds—-red birds clustering at the top of the tree, owls flying and perched, carved wooden birds, even a Fairy Wren from a trip to Australia.  Then I fill in the depths and empty places with red ornaments.  The tree is finally finished.  Then I decorated the living room, filling every space with special Crèches and singing angels and funny little tumtegumpas from Sweden and Denmark.  In the windows, there are paper cutout Santa Claus from Denmark in l967, a knitted snowman my mother made and a wooden painted Christmas tree my sister made.  The room is finally ready but this year there nobody to see it.  Talking with our oldest son this evening, showing him all the decorations, I said, this is the first Christmas we won’t be with our grandchildren and he said, “This is the first Christmas I won’t be together with you.”  Yes, we will all miss being together, big time.  I’m glad I’ve decorated.  It’s hopeful.  It’s joyful.  I makes me smile and think about all the Christmas joy we’ve had over the years.  This year, more than ever, it’s important to focus on hope and light and love.  

———————-