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The significance of a tree.

  • December 12, 2021December 12, 2021
  • by Ben Torres

I honestly have not had a Christmas tree in my place of residence for several years… in fact, other than a “Charlie Brown” equivalent for a couple occasions, it has been nearly 15 years since having a legit-sized tree to put up and decorate. Granted, I have been on the move – packing up a moving truck every year since 2014 and going to another neighborhood (if not another state altogether). At the core, the places I have called “home” have merely been stops along the way – with a handful of nice memories to take away from each. There can be all the excuses for being a Grinch and not celebrating by way of decor as everyone else does, and I likely cited all of them in the past.

This may seem trivial to some, but having gone through the process for the first time in what feels like forever… bear with me. Black Friday certainly does not have the significance it once did in getting up at the crack of dawn to feed my consumer greed – instead, we bundled up our newborn and headed to Home Depot to get a tree and decorations for the yard. While I may have grimaced at first when the wife suggested such an idea (cue memories of having to untangle lights in knots that no Boy Scout is capable of undoing), I found that it brought me immense comfort and joy to bond together over decorating and preparing our home for our Savior’s birth. Furthermore, it cemented the fact that life now consists of having made a home with my new little family – and while it might look like the simple gesture that most do to “play their part” when the holiday rolls around… this one simply feels different.

I’m sure part of this has to do with the fact that I now get to watch my newborn child’s eyes LIGHT up when seeing the colors sparkle as they bounce off the various ornaments we scrapped together. Another part is seeing the joy it brings my wife to prepare our home for the occasion, and the tangible realization that we are indeed growing as individuals and together with every challenge and opportunity that comes our way. There are so many negative things happening in the world that could affect our mindset in this season – sometimes it really is the simple, small things like plugging in the lights Clark Griswold-style and stepping back to enjoy the view with the ones you love.

No matter what life throws at you this month, I hope that in the midst of the world’s current level of noise and chaos that some of you can manage to find a similar feeling this Advent season.

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My wish.

Christmas is such a bizarre time of year. We spend so much of our time trying to plan ahead for gifts and meals and gatherings – only to wish at the timing of those events that we had more time to spare with the ones we love the most. No matter what the factors are, we never seem to have enough time to plan ahead and are always playing catch up in a moment when we should be enjoying every spare second with those we treasure the most.

I have a simple wish for all of us this year – that we don’t take a single thing in our lives for granted this week. As years pass, we learn that friends and close ones often spend these holiday seasons alone, either due to fallouts with family/friends or true loss of loved ones. While the traditions of watching classic Christmas films should never be abandoned, it can never hurt to incorporate a quick call or message to that friend who may not have the family members nearby to go watch Chevy Chase or Jonathan Taylor Thomas make fools of themselves together.

I wish for all of us to seriously consider the opportunity we have to care for the neighbors around us – this could be the person in line in front of us whose card isn’t going through for a present for their young child, or even someone living further away who we aren’t as close to now who we found out is in serious need of resources in this season. If I asked you to prioritize what was more important – someone in the extended family getting a video game they probably won’t spend much time on, or an old friend struggling to make ends meet between jobs while expecting a child – I would hope that the answer will often result in the latter.

This season, I hope we all check ourselves as we prepare for the birth of our Savior – and everything that comes along with it. The spirit of giving is one that can be powerful throughout the year – be it spending time at a local food bank helping sort donations, volunteering to babysit your friend’s toddler so they can have a desperately needed date night… the ways to give are endless once you let your creative juices flow.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas, and hope you all know I’m only a call/text away for anything you may think you need in this time. If I’m not able to help for some reason, I can only pray that someone in my network can step up at that moment and deliver something life changing to the ones who need it the most.

Glad tidings to all.