Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Here I find myself at the end of my Christmas traditions realizing I have not addressed the Christmas tree tradition. This was not intentional but might have to do with dispelling emotional attachments of traditions with the revelation of origins. The single most prevalent image associated with Christmas just might well be the tree.

By the time the Christmas tree was introduced into the west, its origins and meaning had already undergone some substantial changes. As it was introduced into America, those origins and meanings gave way to the spectacle of Christmas and the elaborate decorating of the tree. The dressing of the tree itself became as much a part of the seasonal tradition as any other, with a dash of flare in individual inspiration. The tree became the center of the season.

It became widely known in the west from a family portrait of Queen Victoria. Her German Prince Albert husband brought the tradition from his homeland. The bulbs which are today molded plastic, blown glass or clothe wound Styrofoam, were originally apples.

The origin of apples was used in concert with a Christian play involving The Paradise Tree. The telling of the play began with the fall of man, eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The play ended with the foretelling of the birth of the Christ child. The use of the apple may have a strong influence to the common thought of the apple being Eve’s temptation fruit.

Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

These gifts to the baby Jesus, was this the source of Christmas giving? Searching various websites it is obvious that Christians most closely attach this sentiment to the Magi gifting. Secular society rather points to a Roman year end exchange signifying a good year, Saturnalia, named after the Roman god Saturn who was their god of wealth, prosperity, dominion. The other more noted source was modeled after the legend of Old Saint Nick.

All one has to do is look down a history of celebrations across a wide variety of cultures to discover the coming together of one universal celebration, the most common use of gifting. This did not come into common practice by the masses until the 1800’s. 1800 years passed before the collective celebration began. Why?

Christmas became a commercial enterprise upon which many businesses thrived or died according to  year-end sales. That has not changed much. Anyone in the retail business is very aware of the effects of seasonal sales. Large amounts of advertising money is dedicated towards Christmas sales.

Do you feel pressured into buying Christmas gifts? I cannot see Christ wanting anyone to feel pressured into gifting. He is all about love. Love is given freely, without reservation and without demands. There is no way that I can afford monetarily to match the love that I feel for my family. So why do I have to suffer the pressure of the season?

I will allow you to ponder that answer for yourselves. My answer will only fit me.