Nails

Doing Christmas the Hungarian way is different.... we don't put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. Or the day after. Or even early December. We put it up today. We don't go cut it out.... we wander around the city looking for the best looking tree that's already been cut out. We don't really do too much shopping. Christmas isn't as much about gifts as it is about about food....

But still, the true meaning of Christmas threatens to be overshadowed by the hustle and bustle, the cooking, the baking, the going to the market, the dragging of the turkey and the fish home for Christmas dinner...

Today we decorated the tree. These lights are smaller, flashier, more tedious than the ones at home. The tree stand is more wobbly. The boxes of ornaments we pulled out are from Christmases I never participated in... ornaments that have little meaning to me, besides being red, or silver, or gold. However, we still hung the szalon cukor, our festively-wrapped, Hungarian, jelly-filled chocolates. As we tied knots in the strings and stuck candy after candy into the loops, memories came flooding back. Christmas is such a reflective time of year. And for someone who enjoys the reflecting, it's a very welcome time...

Normally, after all the lights are strung around the tree, the first ornaments to go on it are three rusty nails. We make sure to hide them deep within the tree, close to the trunk. They are invisible to the casual bystander, but easily found by those who know to look for them. They hang mysteriously in the shadows, away from the glowing lights reflecting off of the colorful ornaments. They are each about 8 inches long, sharp to the touch. Ominous. It certainly seems to be a strange way to begin decorating our Christmas tree. What could these oppressing, deadly nails have to do with the delicate, festive look we set out to create?

I am certainly one to savor metaphors, and this one has become especially meaningful to me: we hang these rusty, long nails to symbolize the true meaning behind the birth of Jesus. To the casual bystander, it is just a celebration of gaudy snowmen, Santa, presents, and maybe even a baby in a manger. But to those who truly understand the reason that He came... it is so much more. For the joy behind Christmas lies in the joy of knowing that He came to die. In my place. For my sins. So that I can live. Without the looming nails, Christmas would be meaningless. Sometimes it's good to stop and think that without those nails... and that tree.... there would be no reason to celebrate. While it's a weighty thought for a festive season, it's one that is worth considering.

We didn't bring the nails with us this year... but as we hung three glassy heart ornaments, we thought about the immense love God had for us... in sending His Son as a baby... to die... so that we can live.