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saturday song: o christmas tree

well, since we are headed out today to participate in our annual ritual of cutting down an evergreen tree so we can drag it into our house and hang plastic and metal objects from it.  seriously, from one perspective it seems like such a strange tradition. 

and yet, in a pre-electricity world, when winter was such a time of darkness and cold.  when you were forced indoors for most of the time, with only candlelight, winter must have seemed like a daunting season.  all the trees look dead.  all the earth seems dark.  all the hope seems gone.  so you get a tree - a miracle kind of tree that never stops being green - and you bring it into your house as a reminder that all hope is not lost.  that there is still green in the world.  and as such, it isn't just a reminder of nature and rhythm of the seasons, but also of the hope we have in Jesus, that in the winter of our souls, there is still redemption, there is still hope.  in the midst of all this death, there is still life, and his name is Jesus; his name is Emmanuel. 

sigh.  i love Christmas. 

enjoy this christmas tree video from my favorite christmas special of all time: a claymation christmas. 

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