There is a lovely story I read recently about the history of the Christmas tree. Christmas trees were brought over to the US by German immigrants, but they were made famous by Harriet Martineau, a writer and abolitionist, who had been invited to the family of Rev. Charles Follen, a Unitarian, to stay with them over Christmas. Charles and his wife had secretly brought a tree into the house (usually Christmas trees were outside) unbeknownst to their three young children and had decorated it with candles and toys. After dinner that evening, the doors to the living room were thrown open and the children who had been running around as children do, stopped in their tracks and stared in wonder at the amazing sight of that tree, all lit up and glowing. Martineau wrote about the event in a popular women’s journal and, as she predicted, it became a new Christmas tradition.
I think about that image of the children staring in wonderment at the beauty and surprise of that tree and remember times when I have felt that way. And so my Christmas wish for you is that your holiday season is filled the wonderment of beauty and surprises!
With love,
Rev. Sian
Rev. Sian Wiltshire is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's minister. Please feel free to reach out and say hello! She can be reached by email, revsian@ocuuc.org, or by church phone at (714) 556-2882 (x302).