Retraction

Forget going home for Christmas.* My brother just informed me that my parents have finally caved in in their old age and purchased a fa...this is so hard to say...a fak....I think I'm going to be sick....a fake...there!...A FAKE CHRISTMAS TREE!! What?????? Excuse me??? Are you for real?? I feel completely taken for the fool. My mother announces to me a few weeks back that I am really going to love the tree this year. "It's so big," she said. "And very pretty. Our prettiest one yet." Being the trusting child that I am I take her at her word and never stop to think maybe, just maybe, she's referring to a big "beautiful" FAKE TREE!!!!!! Good grief! Look, if I'd wanted to sit in front of a fake tree, I would have just stayed in P-town with my little 14-inch fake tree from Michaels and drunk myself to death with my over abundance of Christmas tea while listening to Clay Aiken singing "Mary did you know?" and Amy Grant singing "Breath of Heaven." Seriously! What were they thinking? They live in God's country--the beautiful Pacific Northwest. WA is the freakin' Evergreen state!! I mean, how hard could it be to procure a real live Douglass Fir or whatever??? Christmas tree farms in our little corner of the world are about as ubiquitious as Starbucks are in Seattle or any other big city in the world for that matter.

My brother warned me not to make too big a deal out of it and to do all of my mourning before going home as he thinks that my parents are dreading my response. Maybe they should have been forthcoming with me in the first place! As it is, they've set me up to give them grief. They were surprised when Samuel made as big of a deal of it as he did when he arrived home from southern Cali. Here's what he had to say to that: "i live in southern california. where pine trees are a myth that exist only on hallmark cards and in plastic form on hollywood movie lots." Poor boy! Give him some real green!

Well, Mom and Dad, if you are reading this blog, you know the secret is out! I'll do my best to mourn from a distance so that I can keep an open mind when I finally do get home. I ended my last post of longing with a nice little Advent reflection. Can I make such a leap this time?? If I take a stab at it it will only be cheesier than the previous one. Here goes: Perhaps I should consider this fake Christmas tree as but a tiny sign of the still-to-be-100% redeemed world (ie: it's part of the "not yet") for which Christ was born into the world. If so, I can never be fully satisfied and say, "It is well." No, no! I must brave on, praying and working for the day when all Christmas trees will be real. So there!

*This statement is meant for effect only and should not be read literally!