Or do they?
The problem is that nowadays it is not considered to be convenient to call it a ”Christmas Tree”. After some discussion and reasoning, in which it was taken under consideration that the Christmas Tree ought to be seen as a specifically Christian symbol whereas the US Constitution is explicitly neutral in matters of faith and religion, one arrived at the conclusion that the Tree in question be re-named ”The People’s Tree”.
The Tree of the people. The tree of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindu, Buddhists, Atheists and Agnostics (just to mention a few).
Moreover, it seems very unlikely that the origin of the Christmas Tree would have been Christian at all. It probably started as a purely pagan symbol, intended to keep evil spirits away during the darkest season of the year. Like so many other objects and customs, heavily laden with symbolism and tradition, the earliest origin of the Christmas Tree seems to get utterly lost in the deep, opaque muddle of History.
But now it is there, the glittering and decorated People’s Tree on Capitol Hill, and we have to ask ourselves: Why is it there, in the first place, and wat has it got to tell us, ”the people”?
During the course of History, cultures have risen, evolved, taken their shape and, eventually, perished. When in 380 the Emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity the official state religion of the vast Roman Empire, this meant the end of Greco-Roman Antiquity. Something new had come about, and what has become known, rightly or less rightly, as the Christian culture was gradually emerging; a culture that was to become the foundation of our Western societies. A culture by which, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unwillingly, we have all in the West been shaped and moulded.
But perhaps we feel today, more tangibly than any time before, that this very culture – that has rightly or less rightly been called Christian – is approaching some kind of termination, at least the way we have known it so far. A time of transition, an impending breaking-point. And I do not even consider it improper to talk of a period of confusion of values, a time when all values are being questioned, no value being regarded as sacred and inviolable as such, in spite of all monumental, international declarations.
In his writings, Vaclav Havel has been trying to interpret our time of transition, while being keen to declare that he does not adhere to any sort of utopia about what can and what cannot be achieved by human means. And yet he maintains, persistently and untiringly, that there is a hope for humankind to build upon, but only if our laws and our rule of law, our societal order and societal life are built upon a solid foundation values such as morality, spirituality, a humanist mindset, an individual as well as a collective sense of responsability, conscience and respect for the dignity and inviolability of each and every human being. This hope can also be named by reference to that which every beleiver, no matter of what faith, is seeing and perceiving beyond things visible and measurable.
In connection with Christmas, Christian theology uses the notion of Incarnation, ”becoming a human being”, ”assuming bodily shape”. In this case, this refers to God and the Divine Essence assuming visible form and shape in the human being Jesus Christ. But incarnation is something that can happen in every human being.
In each and every human being, no matter of what faith or world-view, hope itself can become incarnated, taking bodily form and shape. It is about a hope which, in both words and deeds, is buidling up what others destroy; showing kindness where others show hostility and contempt; showing unselfishness where others just care about themselves and what belongs to them; seing a fellow human being in every human being; not separating and excluding.
A good People’s Tree where good fruits may grow and ripen.