My Perfect Christmas Tree
By: Theresa Margaret
We piled into the van and drove off to the tree farm, on our way to find the perfect Christmas tree. One of many things that I love about getting a real Christmas tree every year is all the precious time we spend together. It is wonderful to make the trip a family occasion.
We parked the van and headed off into the field with the saw in hand and sled in tow. The smell of pine needles filled the air, and a slight breeze blew our hair. We all have a say in which tree to get. Stating our likes and dislikes freely, the finding of the perfect tree is a learning experience. We learn to listen to other’s opinions, how to state our own opinions without letting down or hurting another person, and how to freely give up our own desires for those of others.
Everyone took a turn cutting through the trunk of the tree. It was hard work, but many hands make light work so they say. This applies not just to cutting down a tree, but also to family life. There is most definitely hard work and pain in a family, but if everyone helps, the job is not as big as it first seemed.
We sang Christmas carols as the tree got closer and closer to falling. Suddenly, my sister called “Timber!” as the beautiful tree fell to the ground. If we cheerfully set to work at whatever the chore may be, sooner than later the job will be done, and all will feel the fruit of their labor.
We pulled the tree onto the sled and triumphantly headed back to the van. We paid for the tree and piled back into the van having loaded the tree into the trailer. However, we had driven no more than a few hundred few when disaster struck. The tree, which had been loosely tied into the trailer had fallen directly into the middle of the road! My dad began attempting to turn around - not an easy feat with a van attached to a long trailer. Luckily, by the time we had finally turned around after many close shaves of diving into a ditch, a man with a truck had picked up our tree and brought it to us. My dad firmly tied the tree into the trailer, and, after thanking the man, we continued our drive home. This incident can be compared to the need of friends and even strangers in our lives. For even though we may think we are secure in our lives, we may, like the tree, fall from the straight and narrow path. It is then that while we attempt to make a complete turnaround to the right way, a friend or stranger sent by God may lend a hand to pull us to our feet. It is these “angels” who are one of many strong guiding points on our way to Heaven.
As we drove home, the girls rode in the trailer with the tree. It was a joy to see them laughing and screaming as we slowly drove down the road. You must take happiness as it comes to you. If your outlook is always gloomy, then no matter how much happiness you may find, it will not appear as happiness. But if your outlook is bright, and you search for the good in everything, then you will find your cup of happiness to be constantly overflowing.
When we finally got the tree home, my dad took it up on the porch to trim it and drill the hole in the trunk for the base. He stood it up in the stand, and we all stepped back to look at the perfect tree. My dad had to leave for work, but we sisters were given the go-ahead to pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations and begin decorating not only the tree but the rest of the house. First we strung the lights onto the tree from top to bottom with ropes of pearls and red beads. This is true also in life. You must first string the lights, the light of the Word of God and His Blessed Presence in the Holy Eucharist, in your life before you can begin “decorating” it with good works. The “pearls and red beads” of our life are the graces given to us from the Lord throughout our life. They aid us as we try to follow the Light of Christ.
Then the fun really began. We started sorting through the dozens of treasured Christmas ornaments that we had collected over the years. Each girl found her special ornaments, ornaments given to her each year at Christmas time. We laughed as we carefully hung the ornaments on the tree, trying to avoid the prickly needles. Even though the tree was continually growing more and more beautiful, it was not without the price of several pricked fingers. Just as the Christmas tree is not all joy without sorrow or pain, neither is life. There will always be pain in the world, for without suffering there could be no love and compassion for those in pain. So you can’t avoid it; it is always there. But if you approach the pain in the right way, you will come out with less “pricks” than you might otherwise have received. Just as if you place your hand far up on the branch of the tree and pull towards you so that the needles don’t poke you as much, you can always get through a situation with as little pain as possible. But you can’t just let the situation sit there unattended. You must act.
As we lovingly hung the last ornament and stepped back to look, everyone sighed and exclaimed what a beautiful tree it was. Even though it did not look perfect with its crooked branches and leaning trunk, the thought and love and joy that came with the tree made it the most perfect tree in the world. For nothing in this world will ever be “perfect”, but by the grace of God, we may all one day become perfect by His thought, love, and joy! Thus my family’s Christmas tree is the perfect tree because of how it brings us together as a family, how it is a symbol of so many things that are central to living our life well and gaining the eternal goal.
