This isn’t a Christmas story, but it stems from my seeing a plain cedar tree, lying on its side near the curb…the aftermath of the greatest holiday of the season. And I suddenly wondered…if it could THINK, what would it be thinking!

It might say, I was happy on that hillside, growing with the other trees, expecting to grow tall, but someone came with a saw, and took me to a house. Everyone seemed happy to see me, and they began putting pretty things all over my branches, and even added lights that made me really beautiful. And they put pretty packages beneath me, and I was the center of attention. I decided that I really liked all this.

But then one morning, the family that lived there, opened all the packages, and later even took away my lights and my decorations.

And then…they threw me outside, by the curb. It reminded me of how that person named “Jesus” grew up with other young people, then began talking with people about a better way of living. And He healed people of all kinds of diseases and handicaps, then healed the souls of all who would accept His way to God. Great crowds listened and became His followers.

And then they threw him away, like they had done to me. I knew the feeling. But unlike me, this wasn’t the end for Him. He came back to life, and is still changing lives, giving them a new beginning as if they were seeds of trees that would die, and then live again! And so it wasn’t the end of the story. It was a new beginning, better than they had dreamed. How could you refuse a future like that.

You lucky people.