|
Papa
shook the snow from his scarf as he entered the doorway of the
warm and cozy little house. Once inside he laid a small
pine tree next to the door. Gretchen's face lit up when
she spotted the tree. "Papa! Our Christmas
Tree?" Papa pulled off his scarf and coat.
"Yes, this is our Christmas tree," he said.
Gretchen's eyes sparkled. "where shall we put
it?" she asked. Mama looked up from the table where
she was working with bits of colored paper, apples and
wafers.
Gretchen
danced around the room. "it's almost Christmas," she
said. "Shouldn't we decorate the tree?"
"Of
course", said mama. "help me with these
cuttings."
Gretchen
plopped down at the table. Mama patiently showed her how
to shape colored paper into beautiful hearts, roses, flowers,
angels and bells. Papa warmed himself by the fire as Mama
and Gretchen fashioned lots of lovely, delicate ornaments.
"Why
do we have Christmas trees? asked Gretchen. "Who had the
first one?"
Papa
rubbed his beard and he spoke, "It's a custom. A
custom that started long, long ago, right here in Germany.
"The
first Christmas trees were not decorated at all," said
Mama. "And they weren't pine trees."
"That's
right," said Papa. "Long, long ago, in the 700's, a
monk named Boniface chopped down an oak tree. He was angry
because people thought the oak was sacred and he wanted to show
them they were wrong."
Gretchen
frowned, "So an oak was the first Christmas Tree?" she
asked.
"No,
no," said Mama. "Let Papa finish his story."
"When
the oak fell, it crushed everything in its path," said
Papa. "Everything, that is, except a small fir
sapling. Boniface said the survival of the little sapling
was a miracle. So for many years after, people planted fir
saplings to celebrate Christmas. They didn't bring trees
inside and decorate them as we do now."
Mama
stood up, "And now it's time to decorate this tree,"
she said.
Papa
lifted the little pine onto the table by the window. Then
he and Mama hung all the pretty paper cuttings, along with
bright red apples and delicate wafers, from the pine's spindly
branches.
When
they finished, Gretchen stood back to admire it all.
"What a beautiful custom, she said. Then she knelt
before the window, folded her hands, and looked toward the
sky. "Thank you Boniface, for giving us that very
first Christmas Tree."
[Home]
[About
Us] [Breaking
News] [Commentary]
[Contact
Us] [Discussion
Groups] [Education]
[Guest
Commentator's] [Political
News] [Store]
Copyright
© 2002 The Junto Society - All rights reserved. Permission
to reprint granted provided a link to this site [http://www.juntosociety/com] is
plainly accompanying the article.
|
