Next to me in the living room was our Christmas tree. If I do say so myself, it is a pretty majestic looking tree with its burgundy ribbon and ornaments, the lights and full pine boughs sprawling out into the room. For safety reasons, we choose to have a fake tree, and as I looked at it last night, I was thinking about how amazing it is that this tremendous tree was just a few weeks ago jammed into a little box. There was not much to look at when that box was first opened… a short pamphlet of instructions, branches and a thin metal pole. You’d never guess that was all there was since it dominates the house now.
Back to my story.
About halftime, my little daughter came running into the room with toys in hand obviously the victim of way too much fudge that her irresponsible father had given her earlier. High on sugar, she was gleaming with a smile that went ear to ear. Running much too fast for the wood floor conditions, she was not capable of stopping herself as she came too near the tree and the crash that followed was pretty funny. Down she went. Down went the toys she had been carrying. Ornaments bounced and ribbon went flying.
But the tree stood.
It was not until this morning that I thought about the incident again. I was looking at the forecasts for snow, for wind, for ice and general winter conditions over the next several weeks and I thought about that tree… it was still standing despite that collision…
Our country is a lot like that tree. At its beginning it was really not much to look at and not all that large. Jammed into a little box on the east coast, this country was just a little over a dozen pieces and we had nothing but a short little piece of paper someone wrote as to how to put it all together.
Over the years, we got those pieces out, figured out how they fit, and after a lot of effort, figured out how to “fluff” them all so the tree grew. It no longer looked like thirteen pieces but a full tree that sprawled way out into the room.
Then came the decorating. At first it was just a few strands of popcorn and things we grew, but soon, the tree was laden with lights and ornaments of every color and size, so much so that the branches droop under the weight! It was beautiful! We invited the world to come and see it, and everyone wanted one just like ours.
To this day there are millions that are attracted to the fullness, the size, the lights, the ornaments and the colors… they’d never even believe it was once just pieces in a box…
But the most important part of the tree? You can’t see it. It was in the box too, but nobody ever pays attention to it. When we first put the tree together, we took great care in making sure we had it and that we set it up correctly, but now that one piece is forgotten…hidden under the lights and ornaments and branches…
It’s the stand.
Last night, had our tree not been firmly clamped in that stand, it would have been in my lap. The branches would all have been flattened, the ornaments all broken, the ribbon a tangled mess. But the tree stood… because of the stand.
Our country had one of these stands when we first set it up as well. There were four legs on it just like ours has...
There was an attitude of preparedness, a spirit of readiness, resolve for resilience and constant awareness. Each leg was crucial to holding the whole tree up.
For years the tree lit the room because it STOOD in the room.
Now, as winter approaches and will be followed by yet another year of tornadoes, hurricanes, wind storms and perhaps worse, we might want to check the stand.
Are we still clamped in there firmly? Is the stand stable? Are the legs still where they should be? Could we take the hit from an event careening across the hardwood floors at lightning speed?
About halftime, my little daughter came running into the room with toys in hand obviously the victim of way too much fudge that her irresponsible father had given her earlier. High on sugar, she was gleaming with a smile that went ear to ear. Running much too fast for the wood floor conditions, she was not capable of stopping herself as she came too near the tree and the crash that followed was pretty funny. Down she went. Down went the toys she had been carrying. Ornaments bounced and ribbon went flying.
But the tree stood.
It was not until this morning that I thought about the incident again. I was looking at the forecasts for snow, for wind, for ice and general winter conditions over the next several weeks and I thought about that tree… it was still standing despite that collision…
Our country is a lot like that tree. At its beginning it was really not much to look at and not all that large. Jammed into a little box on the east coast, this country was just a little over a dozen pieces and we had nothing but a short little piece of paper someone wrote as to how to put it all together.
Over the years, we got those pieces out, figured out how they fit, and after a lot of effort, figured out how to “fluff” them all so the tree grew. It no longer looked like thirteen pieces but a full tree that sprawled way out into the room.
Then came the decorating. At first it was just a few strands of popcorn and things we grew, but soon, the tree was laden with lights and ornaments of every color and size, so much so that the branches droop under the weight! It was beautiful! We invited the world to come and see it, and everyone wanted one just like ours.
To this day there are millions that are attracted to the fullness, the size, the lights, the ornaments and the colors… they’d never even believe it was once just pieces in a box…
But the most important part of the tree? You can’t see it. It was in the box too, but nobody ever pays attention to it. When we first put the tree together, we took great care in making sure we had it and that we set it up correctly, but now that one piece is forgotten…hidden under the lights and ornaments and branches…
It’s the stand.
Last night, had our tree not been firmly clamped in that stand, it would have been in my lap. The branches would all have been flattened, the ornaments all broken, the ribbon a tangled mess. But the tree stood… because of the stand.
Our country had one of these stands when we first set it up as well. There were four legs on it just like ours has...
There was an attitude of preparedness, a spirit of readiness, resolve for resilience and constant awareness. Each leg was crucial to holding the whole tree up.
For years the tree lit the room because it STOOD in the room.
Now, as winter approaches and will be followed by yet another year of tornadoes, hurricanes, wind storms and perhaps worse, we might want to check the stand.
Are we still clamped in there firmly? Is the stand stable? Are the legs still where they should be? Could we take the hit from an event careening across the hardwood floors at lightning speed?
Before sitting down to write this, I walked out to the living room and pushed the gift boxes aside for a moment. It really only took a second or two, but I wanted to check to make sure last night’s near-catastrophic collision hadn’t damaged the stand. Sure enough, one leg was a little loose.
I tightened it up, pushed the gifts back, and I am confident that she will stand throughout the holiday once again.
Check the stand, America… then enjoy the holidays.
