To Tree or Not To Tree

This question has come up in some form or fashion every year--for as long as I can remember. What is the Christmas tree and its significance? The reason I bring this up before Thanksgiving is because my recent issue of Wondertime magazine made me rethink this all over again.

Bringing an evergreen indoors during the winter (solstice) dates back before Christianity. It goes back to the early Egyptians and then Romans and somewhere along the way the Christians swooped it up and stamped their name on this tradition.

So as I read through this Wondertime article where one husband tried to convince his Jewish wife that a Christmas tree, without Nativity scenes, would be OK for their family. Apparently Wondertime magazine has gotten some flack for this article. Although I haven't seen and/or heard what it is.

Let me be totally honest here. Christmas trees rock. Winter is dark and gray and boring. Christmas trees are the total opposite of that. And let me tell you unless you've really lived in a totally dark and dreary place in the middle of winter (ahem, Sweden) you don't know what it really means to have some kind of winter celebration and bring some kind of life into the house.

Even in the sunny desert of Qatar, I used to watch the abaya-clad women buying up the Christmas decorations and picking out small trees the minute they were displayed in the stores. Think some Muslims in the Middle East aren't all over this? Yes, they were! If you asked them why, they would answer, "Because it's beautiful to have in your home. Why wouldn't you?"

And why wouldn't you?