Aluminm Christmas Tree

It is late November but the snow has already come. We have begun hanging Christmas decorations at my house. I was thinking about my grandparent’s aluminum Christmas (no that is not my grandma in the photo). My grandparents have a reputation of being frugal...to the extreme (some might even say cheap) and they have had the same artificial tree for decades. For many years it was even a joke among their children (but never their grandchildren of course). Imagine the surprise when this tree began to show up in very trendy decor magazines. Apparently it is now retro, extremely trendy and sought after by those in the know about fashion and decor trends. Now those who were laughing wish they had the tree! It reminded me of a phrase I recently read in Ecclesiastes, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the son.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) He was speaking about more than artificial Christmas trees and decor, of course, but there is a similar observation to be made. After looking at the world the writer observes endless and apparently meaningless cycles found in nature and history (1:3-11). Think of human nature for example, have greed or pride really changed over the last few thousand years? I don’t claim to have fully grasped all the complexity of Ecclesiastes, but what I have begun to see is that life, when seen from a strictly earthly perspective, is meaningless and futile. Hopefully, however, we don’t just settle for this earthly perspective, but rather look to the supernatural. It is a relationship with God that brings the hope to transcend the cycles, to find purpose and meaning. As we prepare to enter the Christmas season, hopefully we will take pause to consider the Lord for whom the celebrations are supposed to be about, and consider what He means to our life.