Christmas Tree Traditions Everyone should know, I think you will be surpised.

Christmas traditions blog post

I have been fascinated with traditions and how holidays like Christmas have come to be, who started them, if my family and I should continue in each and every tradition and celebration and just in general having knowledge about why and how we’re honoring each tradition or celebration, and Christmas is a big one to take a deep dive into and attempt to understand.

 The main reason I want to understand Christmas and all it’s wonderful celebrations that come with it is it is the holiday that is observed as Jesus Christ’s birthday and as such it’s important to get it right.

So if we start with the Christmas tree it’s hard to know why it has been chosen as the symbol of Christmas, there doesn’t seem to be a clear indicator of why it’s representative of the birth of the Savior so I went on the search to find out.

Martin Luther is said to have been walking through an area of evergreen trees at night during the Christmas season and the stars twinkling through the trees reminded him of the light of Christ shining in the darkness so he cut down a tree and brought it home and put candles on it so he could show his children an example of Christ in that when one has accepted Christ as Savior one gains eternal life, the evergreen tree and is filled with light.

It’s a beautiful story and it has made quite the difference to me while our family Christmas tree is lit up so beautifully.

Martin Luther also moved the time that gifts are opened from St. Nicolas day which is December 6 to Christmas Eve, he is also responsible for creating a famous Christmas Carol still sung today “From Heaven above to earth I come, To bear good news to every home” and another tidbit that is very interesting, Martin Luther is the man to whom we owe thanks for singing in church in general, he liked to write hymns to help his congregation to help remember scripture easier, there wasn’t corporate singing in church before he started it.

It is said that he loved Christmas so much and he was so excited to celebrate the birth of our Savior that he was like a delighted child throughout the entire season and wrote numerous sermons about the birth of our Savior. I would encourage yo to find some to read as they’re lovely little treasures to enrich your Christmas.

So if you have a Christmas tree in your home that is lit up with sparkling lights you can thank Martin Luther for his contribution some 500+ years ago.

As I was writing this blog post and studying and looking up historical events concerning Christmas and this time of year, there are a lot of ways that this season has been celebrated that had nothing to do with Jesus and His birth so I set my mind on God on the matter and divine inspiration entered and it was this, as a Christian I am celebrating the birth of my savior and all the things that go with that, we’re not celebrating a winter solstice, or an obscure god (little g) or a yulelog or any other situation, it’s always been about Jesus’ birth. We as a family give gifts as a representation of our love for each other and seems similar to the gifts the wise men have Christ, the time we’re spending with one another is spent in thankfulness, joy and gratitude, and now the full understanding of a Christmas tree with its lights and Christmas carols adds a more beautiful layer of understanding and celebration.

I’m going to add the book Luther by Eric Metaxes if you’d like to read more about this historical figure that inspired so much of our Christian traditions that maybe you don’t know about.
we hope you’re enjoying your own Christmas season.  

much love and God’s blessings to you.