[Oe List ...] A Refection: O CHRISTMAS TREE OF LIFE

[Richard Howie]

On Jan 2, 2018, at 10:50 PM, Ellie Stock via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> 
> 
> On this eighth day of Christmas--continued Christmastide and New Year greetings and blessings.
> 
> Ellie :)
> elliestock at aol.com 
> 
> 
> A Reflection:   (also slightly reformatted in attachment):
> 
> 
> O CHRISTMAS TREE OF LIFE
> Beautiful fir tree,
> fresh scent of pine and the bitter outdoors from which it was uprooted,
> now domesticated, a center piece of the family room, warmed by videoed hearth,
> waits to be adorned and adored for the Christmas season.
>  
> First come the lights, woven intricately through its needled branches,
> the starry night cosmos begun so many millennia ago,
> its fire and energy birthing this Christmas Tree of Life and
> illuminating emerging species since the first burst of dawn.
>  
> Next are the shiny red balls, the Sun Star that sustains Earth, and
> Grandma’s heavy blue ball, Earth our Common Home. 
> White and gold Chrismons weave another narrative
> of this Tree of Life:  Creationing, prophesying,
> incarnating, sacrificing, restoring, communing,
> resurrecting Earth and All that is in it.
>  
> Red bows proclaim the gift of this wondrous, sacred, extravaganza of time and space.
> And simple, mostly gifted ornaments of all sizes, shapes and colors
> celebrate the surging uniqueness, diversity and cooperation
> unfolding, enfolding our universal story and
> permeating our individual and family memories,
> propelling us into the future unknown.
>  
> Sunflowers, walnut-shelled-cotton-bearded Santas, God’s Eyes, Dream Catchers, and Nut Crackers;
> candy canes, crosses, chullos, and steepled churches;
> photo pins of children, friends, MLK Jr., and Mandela;
> ceramic Peruvian cherubim playing flutes, violins, horns and harps;
> homemade, hand-cut and shaped metal snowflakes and stars;
> a single purple blown glass tear drop that weeps for lives gone too soon or too far;
> and fragile, delicately and intricately painted Slavic eggs;
> nativity scenes, origami creatures, peace doves and frogs;
> human figures, Earth balls, bells, and Tibetan prayer flags.
>  
> At the foot of the trunk, a babe’s manta cloth robe of many colors embraces this heritage and legacy,
> and, at the top, an angel keeps watch like the eagle hovering over the Great White Pine Tree of Peace,  
> its streams of mercy gracing the branches as scotch plaid ribbons flowing to the four directions.
>  
> But, not alone, this Christmas Tree of Life extends its diorama
> to cloth, ceramic, glass, and wooden nativity scenes in this and neighboring rooms;
> to windowsill welcome candles, peace and cosmic Advents wreathes and Feliz Navidad trees;
> to ivy light strands, greeting cards, manta stockings with llama bells, and gifts under the boughs.
>  
> And gathering as friends and family among, within and around this Tree of Life,
> we feast, sing, dance, play instruments, make joyful noises,
> exchange gifts and plunge with open hearts and eyes into the swirling silence and stillness of 
> the Promise of New Life and Light amidst an often dark and threatening world.
>  
> Surrounded and joined by a cloud of witnesses—
> visible now or invisible in your metamorphic mulched return to the Earth—
> O Christmas Tree of Life, you proclaim:
> Hope beyond hope, Peace passing understanding,
> Joy and Thanksgiving unceasing, and Love unconditioning—
> Evermore and evermore….Amen…                                                                    ejhs: 1/02/2018
> 
> <O CHRISTMAS TREE OF LIFE.docx>_______________________________________________
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