The First Christmas Tree578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKDL2MFUr1
Once upon a time, in the fa- off land of Judea, there lived a young shepherd boy named Arnon. He was a small lad, and lived in a tiny house with his father and mother. They were very poor but managed to get by through their labor. Father and son tended the flock, while Mother kept their home tidy, prepared their simple meals, and carefully tilled a garden of delicious vegetables.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQjj0QOxU9
One chilly spring evening when Arnon was only eight years old, he was sitting on a stool in front of their home, whittling at a long staff curved into a hook at one end. His father had gone off with half the flock, leaving young Arnon behind to finish his new shepherd’s staff. It was a family tradition they’d had for generations—when a firstborn son turned eight years old, he would make his staff and use it throughout his life.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYd4vJUvZ1
The young shepherd finished with youthful impatience, the sturdy wood roughly rounded. He hastened to gather his sheep, all twenty of them; their bleating and braying were comforting and familiar. He knew their names and loved them as only a shepherd boy could love his sheep.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANEpzJC0DM
The fluffy animals cavorted along behind him as he rushed up the path to the plain near the village, where he knew he would find his father. There! Across the valley, he could see the tall silhouette and grey cloud of sheep.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S9sGqnJqs
“Abba! Look!” He cried, waving his staff above his head proudly. He began to run, his flock tumbling after him.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGIBhLywBH
“Ha ha! My boy!” The strong baritone voice carried with it a share of fatherly pleasure and joy at seeing his son. They embraced.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MaHbMpItV
Father took the staff in his hands and inspected it closely, humming and rubbing his hands up and down its length.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLFLwEVDMG
“You’ve done a fine job, my son. This staff will serve you well for many years to come. Not a splinter to be found! I’m so proud of you!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPJvNVk8i1
Arnon blushed, but he couldn’t hold back a beaming smile. “I wanted it to be just like yours, Abba!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrq37rZfw4
The man chuckled. “This staff is much finer than mine was when I first made it.” He hefted his own rod lovingly, and a distant look came into his eyes. Memories of many years flashed through his mind. Unbidden, a thought entered and commanded his attention.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmJ8SQ6DbF
He saw a man, bruised, beaten, his humble raiment torn and drenched in blood. He saw the man, ordinary and yet remarkable enough that he could have pointed him out in a crowd of millions, carry a heavy, rough-hewn beam. He saw the man nailed to it, and hung from a tall scaffold. Tears seeped from his eyes, knowing and yet unknowing of the significance of what he beheld.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhbANJdk0X
“Papa. what’s wrong?” Arnon asked softly, uncertain why his father was crying suddenly.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTWES4D84K
“Oh, my boy. Nothing is wrong—in fact, nothing could be less wrong! There is joy in the future, and I believe you may live to participate in it.” The father, seeing once again, looked down at the lad before him. Then he spotted something just next to the small boy’s foot, and bent down to pluck it up. He held in his hand a tiny fir sapling, just barely sprung from its seed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwcZlma1OM
“This will be your gift, my son. Grow this tree, and give freely of its bounty.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHvBfxAUKp
Arnon tenderly accepted the sapling. “What should I do with it?” He asked.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuVqERbmmh
“Plant it and nurture it, and someday you will know what to do with it,” his father replied, and turned to the flock. They were silent the rest of the night.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLITS2TMtrR
Years later, the boy was a man with a family of his own, still living in the same house. Fortune had smiled upon them, and he’d been able to expand the house and his flocks with the increase in prosperity. Life in ancient Judea was difficult, and he was full of gratitude for his blessings.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnkRBaPrdS
In the courtyard where the animals slept stood a slender fir tree, already grown tall. Its needled branches cast shade over the hot and thirsty sheep, and provided a swing for the man’s son and daughter. He smiled as he watched them play, but presently a pensive feeling came over him. He remembered the words of his father and wondered what the man had seen that cold night.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE865c1Lpzz
There weren’t many opportunities for a shepherd to relax, but at this moment Arnon desperately wanted to see for himself the vision his father had beheld. He went inside, past his startled wife without a word, and into a small room he’d added onto the back of the house for moments when a little quiet was needed. Here he knelt and prayed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jARxAZwy8
“Oh God, I know you gave my father a vision and showed him something so happy that he cried tears of joy. Will you show me, please?” He prayed with sincerity, the entirety of his soul full of desire. And suddenly all was dark.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfijd8Gjlg
The darkness was gradually lightened by the radiance of stars, and he saw a small group of shepherds on a grassy hill with hundreds of sheep. They were huddled around a warm fire, but remained watchful. One of them looked very familiar, but he couldn’t quite make out their features.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwQROHGriQ
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the scene; Arnon looked but didn’t see its source. He saw a man in bright, glowing white robes descend through the light. The man gestured to the shepherds and spoke to them, calming their fear. Thousands of angelic voices proclaimed joy and gladness.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB3N9gI3Hc
His mind was clouded again, and then he saw Him—the same man his father had described. The man knelt in an orchard of olive trees, pain engraved on his features. He prayed, and while Arnon couldn’t hear his words, he felt them. They impacted his soul like hammer wielded by all the ancient fathers through the distance of time. He fell to his knees as well, and tears of sorrow flowed freely. He understood what the Man was doing, and knew why his father had been so full of joy. But that joy came at a cost. Such a cost!578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfMfi3kgFw
The vision faded, and Arnon took a shaky breath. After a moment he stood, and set his shoulders—no one could continue living unchanged after witnessing such a thing. Such a holy thing.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBU2iBPWEjf
Going out of the small, dark room, he embraced and kissed his surprised wife, and then rushed out into the yard to hug his children. They laughed and screamed, and he swept them up, twirling around with them on his shoulders, laughing.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZN53UC3CFg
Arnon set them down and stood before the tall, thin fir tree. It’s bark matched the deep brown of his beard, and he stroked it tenderly, just as he had accepted it as a sapling when he was a boy. He thought of what gift he could give of it, and his head drooped. No gift he could give would be remotely comparable to the gift he was given. This knowledge brought him sorrow and fear, but his vision also gave him hope. He would be patient. The gift would come in time.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l9sdRlxRH
And so time passed. The children grew, as they tend to do, and eventually, his son, Simon, got married and broke with tradition to become a merchant, like his father-in-law. His daughter moved to Jerusalem with her husband. They each had their own families now and Arnon’s beloved companion passed away during a traumatic childbirth. He remained alone for ten years.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDBvC6pdD6
One day he arose in the morning and picked up the staff that he’d carved nearly fifty years before. Its surface had become smooth and glossy over time, imbued with decades of memories. He had to lean on the staff to walk now; its role had changed from a shepherd’s crook to an old man’s prop.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wag2gj4nJ
He looked out the open doorway into the courtyard behind his ancestral home, now empty of sheep and residence only of the now majestic fir tree. It towered over all the buildings of his village, even the synagogue and had grown full of love and life. It seemed almost eager to share its love with everyone around it.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8qmwwhl56
“You were destined to be a gift, you know,” Arnon said softly, almost believing the tree could hear him. “Every true gift is a sacrifice.” This last statement was to himself. He knew it was time.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLZQ3gxdkM
He hobbled into a shed and took out an old axe, its head notched and rusted. He hefted the tool, and the rotten shaft snapped, dropping the head to the ground with a dull thud. Arnon sighed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCs4DDxuGbX
His staff was a perfect size, just wide enough to hold the axe head on through friction. After affixing the rusty implement to the beloved rod, he unsteadily began to chop down his tree. He was sweaty after three strokes, but he continued until noon when he was too exhausted to continue.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhd7UomhQCQ
He took an hour to eat a simple meal and rest in front of his home. Several villagers passed by on the road, and one woman stopped to speak.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk98nSKCJK
“Arnon, whatever are you doing with your staff? Why is there an axe head on it? What madness has befallen you?” It was Martha, an old friend. She spoke with concern and glanced with unease at the top of the fir tree, far above them.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkfpOj6agG
“I’m using it to make a gift,” was all he said in reply.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt039ltDmO0
Martha seemed unsatisfied with his answer, but continued on her way without further question. On her way she met another friend, and whispered in her ear conspiratorially.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzTxF2yaKw
“Don’t let on that I’ve told you, Beth dear, but I just saw old man Arnon sitting with an axe head on his crook. Can you believe it? I think he intends to chop down that beautiful fir tree!”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vKuluhqUT
Beth couldn’t believe it, and was so shocked that she had to run and tell her sister right away. Beth’s sister mentioned it to her husband, who happened to be a scribe in the synagogue. The news spread swiftly through the little village.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqG8GT9vgz
Arnon was almost halfway through and ready to fell the tree when he noticed the entire village standing before his home. They were silent, but all had uneasy looks about them.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpXO7Lp1Gx
“What is it? Do you want to watch me chop down my tree? Watch away! But stay clear, this could fall anywhere!” The crowd took several steps back.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcfEXF06h9
Arnon chopped, and chopped, and chopped, until with one last thwack! the staff, overtaxed from a labor it hadn’t been designed to perform, snapped in half. The axe head flew off and embedded itself in one of the walls of the courtyard as Arnon fell right on his rear, taken aback. He didn’t know what to do.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmMHiuL6lp
He looked up at the tall, brown and green tree. The villagers looked up as well. They looked and looked until they heard a thin creak. That sound grew into a muted roar until with a deep groan, the tree began to fall. It impacted one of the sheep sheds with a crash, shaking the ground and filling the air with dust.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5l0UDYTq2
The townspeople stared in horror but Arnon stood, unsteadily, and surveyed the mess with satisfaction. He knew what he needed to do.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcBM4RLOjB
Autumn, and then winter passed. Arnon spent his time cutting and carving at the wood from the fir tree, making furniture mostly. Some pieces he whittled into puzzles or odd shapes that somehow pleased the eye.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6W7ofH2Y69
His son came with his family to live with him, concerned about the aging man’s health and wanting to keep the ancestral home taken care of. Grandchildren played and danced around his knees while he set to work on the final gift from the fir tree. His son came up, curious.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoCzcMQKMS
“What is it, father? It’s not like the other chairs you made.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrANU1Jpgvg
“Surely you know what this is, Simon. ‘Tis a manger for a young lamb.” Arnon had never been more careful than as he cut, carved, and assembled the feeding trough, its legs holding it about two feet above the ground.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbUbKLKuoO
“A manger?” His son said, confused. “You’ve built all sorts of beautiful things from that tree you so loved, Father. Why something so simple as a manger?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxxkE8zAY0
Arnon simply smiled, and said, “Simon, Do you remember me telling you about the vision your grandfather had? And the vision I had as well, about the Man? Remember that always, for I don’t have much time left in this world. My purpose is almost complete. Take the manger with you on your next journey; I know it’ll find its way to where it needs to be.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvCpdDAspc
Simon emotionally accepted the task, and grasped his father’s frail hands in his own strong ones, saying “I promise.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdxcOyDTRs
Simon left two months later after laying Arnon to rest in the family sepulcher carved into the hill behind the town. He had become a merchant after his marriage, differing from his family’s traditional pastoral tendencies. His route took him through several cities, including Jerusalem.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QD2azaEC1
One day he found himself very close to that ancient city, in a town called Bethlehem, when he ran out of wares. He didn’t know how it was possible that he would have such good luck; he’d expected to have gone all the way up to Galilee and back before selling all his stock.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5EplPGrzQ
He was packing his things onto his donkey when a small voice greeted him.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dR3RQcuTJ
“Sir? Are you leaving now?”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngzI3rH5dq
Simon turned around and saw a little shepherd boy, naked from the waist up. His tousled and dirty hair was dark but reflected the setting sun with a red gleam.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0VvaSVkeC
“I am, lad. Was there something you needed? I don’t have anything left.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRGM1l03Lb
The boy contemplated for a moment. When he spoke, his simple words seemed forceful to the friendly merchant.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz97gZ5CR2l
“I need a manger for my lamb.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0j3lVoXSO8
Simon’s jaw dropped open; he could see the manger his father had made out of the corner of his eye, strapped to the donkey. It seemed the child before him had spoken nearly the same words Arnon had said shortly before he died.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKr3W2yhKw
The boy continued, “My lamb is so small, and he can’t reach the tall manger the older animals eat out of. I need a small manger, for my baby lamb.” He said it matter of factly, seriously even. To him, it was the gravest of requests.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUH3ZFq3Nd
Simon was full of awe. Grave, indeed! The boy had no idea what he was asking. The voice of Arnon came through Simon’s memory, unbidden.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0jrT5PJhS
“Take the manger with you on your next journey. I know it’ll find its way to where it needs to be.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2wCCxItFt
Arnon nodded slowly, and the child’s eyes lit up. “Aye, lad. I think this manger would be just right for you.” He untied the manger and knelt down, placing it in the boy’s arms. The boy’s eyes were as big as the full moon.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0S9IvmCIY9
“How can I afford such a beautiful thing, sir? He whispered. The manger was beautiful, but now it seemed extra special.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU939w34nSr
“You don’t need to afford it,” Simon said. “It is a gift.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX7ipIkYBl
A gift. A gift that had been given with so much love, and at such a cost. An old man and a shepherd boy seemed to watch from above, smiling.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiE1Kw3sU7
“Thank you for your gift, sir!” The boy was overjoyed, a smile filling his face. He ran off with the manger in his arms.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDoPPzVqbV
Simon watched him go, a strange feeling in his chest. It felt like an enormous pressure was building until he wept, but he was happier than he’d been since the birth of his last child. Wiping his eyes, he finished packing the donkey and made his way back to the village where he’d been born.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRURBJyZ74F
The shepherd boy carried the manger to a stable, where lived the animals cared for by him and his fellows. It was just right for his little lamb, but even when he was fully grown, it seemed the manger’s purpose hadn’t yet been fulfilled.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWC6GmNAIcP
The next fall came the declaration of Caesar Agustus that a great census be taken of the entire Roman Empire for the purpose of determining the proper taxation of all her conquered lands. In Judea, all men were commanded to return to the homes of their ancestors to enroll. Bethlehem, as a city with plenty of history, was thronged with people continuously for months on end.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYQm6CnNYm
It was another cold spring night, just like one where a shepherd boy had shown his staff proudly to his father, when a recently married husband and wife, she heavily pregnant, entered the town seeking a place to rest. They’d been walking for weeks, and she was nearly exhausted to death.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM1UUMA8ih
The man—his name was Joseph—argued fiercely with the innkeepers, but there simply was no room. Not even the families in the town could house them, even for a night. One honest innkeeper, however, knew of a stable in the hill next to the town that they could stay in for a night. It would be better than being out in the could, he said. And Joseph agreed.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqYDOy1C9l
The little boy who’d received the manger from Simon was away with his friends and their fathers tending the flock, but the manger itself was still there in the stable. It hadn’t been used since his lamb had grown up, and was empty and clean in the middle of the floor at the back, waiting.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeIqjP4PJq
The manger was furthest from the boy’s mind, however, when an angel appeared and said to them:578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOvfQ19RiI
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEjmWtF6ps
As the numberless legion of angels began singing praises to God, the little shepherd boy was running to the stable. He had a thought, a hope in his heart.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjcRGgSAm2
When he entered the stable, he saw his manger, filled with fresh straw and covered with a blanket. And lying in it, wrapped in blankets, was a Baby. THE Baby.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IPMR8dpEC
The tree had to be cut down, killed, in order to become a gift fit for the King, who would in thirty-three years Himself be killed that He might rise again. And because of Him, all of us need not fear, as the angel said, and can rejoice. The Man whom Arnon and his father saw, and the baby that slept in their manger, was JESUS CHRIST, the LORD.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYGnEeVmIQ
And that humble yet mighty fir tree became the very first Christmas Tree.578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeMZCYbqVY
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