Does it matter? A famous Shakespearean quote declared: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". But ours does not resemble, in any empirical juxtaposition, the romantic world of Romeo and Juliet. We are living in a real, but changed world, a world in the cusp of collapsing values and eroded sense of the divine, where political ideologies have been allowed to bleed into the sacrosanct realm of freedom and personal beliefs. In its contorted, mindless search for appeasement and pursuit of the liberal dogma, it is a world that condemns any allusion to beliefs and practices that it deems prejudicial. But while that attitude may contend to advance oneness and tolerance, it is a mindset that hinges in hypocrisy for it distances itself from Christian values while embracing the loud dissenting voices of the opposition. Sadly, we live in a society that, by and large, continues in its headlong march to spiritual destruction... because it has forgotten God!
The Christmas tree may seem an expendable trapping of the season, but it nevertheless represents something of spiritual import. No, it is not a tree of an unnamed holiday. It is a CHRISTMAS TREE! For centuries, it has been associated with the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world. It exalts the coming of the Messiah, the Son of the living God, with decorations symbolic of love, unity, brotherhood, spiritual redemption. The tree itself, standing straight in a heavenward thrust, represents humanity's desire for the divine and the infinite. Usually a stately evergreen of the conifer variety, the Christmas tree, with its green color signifies man's hope for eternal life. The star, prominently displayed at its top, represents the promised Savior to the world and the light that heralded his coming that fateful, holy night in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. The Savior's advent into a world of sin is his condescension to mortality and the single, most important event, then and ever will be, in the history of mankind. He is the Promised Messiah from a loving Father. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but have everlasting life"- John 3:16.
The Christmas tree's call for spiritual recollection does not end with the symbolic star. We hang on it ornaments and other adornments to remember Christ, the perfect gift. We decorate the tree in red, the first color of Christmas, which proclaims in man's callous heart the blood that redeemed him in Jesus' atoning sacrifice. The bell ornament represents a call to the lost sheep to follow Christ, the true Shepherd, while the candy cane reflects the Shepherd's crook which he uses to gather the lambs that strayed from the fold. The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love, while the wreath, which is a circle without beginning nor end, signifies eternity and the enduring nature of Christ's love.
Christmas tree or Holiday tree: Does it matter? What is really in a name? Is the nondescript allusion to the season not enough? Should we not just bow out from this ongoing, contentious discourse and let the politically correct mentality prevail? "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" -Ephesians 6:12.
But while conformity is a virtue in many respects and is an antithesis to discord, the term we use to identify an object connected to things we believe in has broader and deeper significance than meets the eye. When we abandon our principles and beliefs to bow and acquiesce to societal demands to conform, we lose a part of who we are. It destroys self-respect; it chafes the soul; it corrodes the spirit, because it is wrong! Yes, it's just a Christmas tree, but yet, calling it any other name will be tantamount to stripping the importance of that sacred gift of long ago heralded by a heavenly messenger who earnestly announced: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ The Lord"-Luke 2:10-11.
So more than preserving the word, "Christmas Tree", this season and in all the seasons following, I will declare without reservation a greeting from the heart. At the risk of being called politically incorrect by those who do not subscribe to my way of thinking, I will shout it from the rooftops of my Christian soul and proclaim it from the hallowed pinnacle of my faith. I hope you do the same. MERRY CHRISTMAS; MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, my friends!
What's in a name? My faith, my truth, my testimony!
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