THE WORLD’S UGLIEST
CHRISTMAS TREE
I can
remember when I was a young boy how we always used to go into the
woods around our home to cut down our Christmas tree. There always
seemed to be the perfect pine just waiting for us to cut down and
decorate with happy hearts.
One year,
though, when I was no more than five years old I was allowed to go
on the tree hunt. As we hiked through the woods I saw probably the
ugliest, most lopsided, and scraggly pine tree ever. To my five
year old heart, however, it seemed like a great choice.
I can
remember my Dad cutting it down over my brothers’ protests and my
Mom decorating the weak, sagging limbs as best she could. I still
have an old picture of me and my brother standing in front of the
world’s ugliest Christmas tree.
What
warms my heart about this memory is that my Mom and Dad didn’t
mind if the tree didn’t look good or decorate up nicely. They only
cared that I loved it and wanted it for our tree.
They knew
that the true meaning of Christmas didn’t come from the lights,
decorations, or presents. They knew the true meaning of Christmas
came from the love and joy we shared with each other and the love
that God had for each and everyone of us.
These
days my tree is artificial and I smile when I look in the woods
and think of all the ugly, little Christmas trees I am saving by
having it.
The love
and joy I share with my family and everyone else remains the same,
though, at Christmas time and all through the year. It is a
glorious gift from God that keeps on giving and giving and giving.
It is
like John Greenleaf Whittier once wrote: "Somehow not only for
Christmas but all the long year through, the joy that you give
others is the joy that comes back to you."
Merry
Christmas to you. May your tree always be full of light and your
heart always be full of love.
By:
Joseph J. Mazzella
