This was kinda weird to me.. and i wanted a Christians perspective on the meaning of the Christmas tree.
Then, maybe give a little insight to what it says in the Bible under Jeremiah 10:2-4
2 This is what the LORD says:
"Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the sky,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
Thanks,
Kidman
Sure.
First, the passage in Jeremiah was written several hundren years before Jesus was born and doesn't have any more to do with Christmas trees than it has to do with a chairs. That passage has to do with not making idols, which a Christmas tree is not. (Of course, people can turn anything into an idol if they behave that way. I once saw a young teenage boy make an idol out of his 4X4 pick-up truck, but that is another story.)
Like with all things associated with Christmas there is more than one legend as to its beginning. Here is one that I like:
The fir tree has a long association with Christianity, it began in Germany almost 1,000 years ago when St Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity, was said to have come across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. In anger, St Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and to his amazement a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree. St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. But it was not until the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas time.
You can read about some other legends in these links:
The Christmas Tree
The Social History of Christmas Ornaments
Symbols, Customs, Traditions of Christmas
Christmas Around the World
But, legend aside, we have one in our house because it is pretty. Different seasons need different decorations, and an evergreen tree is something that seems appropriate this time of year, probably because I grew up with them. The lights add some gaity to the atmosphere in the house, especially if you need glasses and take them off to look at the tree with a blurr of lights on it. Over the years the children in the house have made special ornaments, some of them are handed down from generation to generation. There is one on our tree that my mother made for me when I was born. You can guess that it has special meaning, as do the one's our own children made when they were very young. Others were collected originally as a souvenir from some special vacation spot or a gift from a friend. Each one has its own story. So, our tree looks like a hodge-podge of all sorts of different stuff, and may not have the same striking effect that some of the designer trees have to them, but there is none that fits our home and family more. It is us, our history, our family, our lives and tokens of love for each other will be placed underneath it come Christmas day.
On a side note: a few years ago, we hosted a Muslim girl in our home as an exchange student for a year. You can guess that she wasn't too excited by Christmas as we prepared for it. But that year it came just a few weeks after Ramadan, and we had kept and celebrated that with her to the fullest extent possible. So, she joined in those aspects of our Christmas celebration that did not violate her faith. And one thing she liked was the tree. The following year she was back home with her family and I wanted to send her something for Christmas (yeah, I know that sounds silly giving a Muslim something for Chrsitmas, but she is one of my kids and I was giving something to all the others, so just consider it a second birthday present -- her birthday is also in December). So, I found a small artificial tree with lights on it, but some winter (not religious) themed ornaments and mailed it to her. She thought I was crazy, but she loved it. Her family all thought it was really neat too. So, they put it up in the family room, and (not associating it with Christmas, per se) they have left it up year round.
family reunion itself is perfection