O Christmas Tree

     When do you take your Christmas Tree down, and put all those decorations away?   I remember years ago seeing most people's trees on the curb the day after Christmas, where they lay in forlorn heaps as the Christmas Carols abruptly faded away,  and neighborhoods returned to the drab, barren look of the long winter season that succeeds the brief, bright merriment of the holidays.   

     But of late, I have noticed that many more people,  in these days freer of tradition,  leave their trees up for days or even weeks after Christmas,  and some of them keep the outdoor lights going too.  We do that too.   Heaven knows, there are not enough festivals and celebrations in our culture, and the long, dark nights of winter in the north need light and cheer inside and out.

     Why be in a rush to throw out all reminders of the season that celebrates love, and joy, and peace?  Why not take more time, after all the busy-ness is over, to sit in the darkness of a room lit only by the the Christmas tree lights,  and savor the moments that still delight the heart, and the memories that brighten the spirit, whether of the Christmas just past,  or a Christmas season of years gone by?  

     And remembering that the Christmas Tree is a beautiful symbol of the Universal Archetype of the Tree of Life, why not deliberately delight in the gift of Life,  and the gifts of our own unique lives,  and reflect on ways to be a Tree of Life in the lives of others?   What gifts still rest under the branches of the Tree of our life,  unwrapped,  waiting to be opened and enjoyed, or given to others?