Ecclesiastes and The Fir Tree

The transition between the wondrous Christmas season and Ordinary Time can be critical. If the holidays have been especially spiritual, the letdown and return to the everyday work routine can jeopardize the growth that days of joyful reflection have nurtured. The goal is to bring the warmth and blessings of Christ’s Nativity into our daily lives, even after the decorations are stored and the visitors have returned home.

A Holiday Blessing

For my family, the holiday season was blessed with a new arrival. We can alter the lyrics of a Christmas hymn to say, “To us, a grandson has been given!” Due to medical complications, the baby spent eight days in neonatal intensive care. For part of that time, my husband and I stayed with our granddaughter, the new big sister.

The days were a curious mixture of pins and needles and joy. For every moment that we spent anticipating what news the next text would bring from our son and daughter-in-law, there were charming adventures with our delightful three-year-old granddaughter and her new Christmas toys. We dressed princesses for several balls, baked playdoh blueberry pie, and built countless castles of wood blocks. Meanwhile, we received the good news of baby Lawrence Joseph’s birth, the concerning report of his premature lung condition, and regular updates throughout the days. Finally, the devoted and very relieved parents brought home their precious baby, and life as a family of four began, just in time for the Feast of the Epiphany.

A Wistful Sigh

Soon I was home, full of gratitude and joy for our new grandson. Joy remained the backdrop for other sentiments, as I reflected by my own Christmas tree and in the quiet of a house where only adults live. I was certainly not lonely, but I felt the tug of nostalgia. How could it be decades since my own little ones played with their Christmas toys in our living room? The end of the holiday season melded with thoughts of the young ones leaving the nest and the wistful sigh familiar to parents whose children are grown.

My thoughts wandered, too, to families we know whose news has not been as cheerful as ours, who have lost loved ones this year, or whose medical outcomes did not turn out well. It seemed unfair that everyone could not be as joyful as we were this holiday season.

A Whimsical Story

On my coffee table was a book of Christmas stories. I thought I’d close the season with something whimsical, and chose Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir Tree”. When I read the story as a child, I had puzzled over the melancholy ending. I wondered if it would make more sense to me now.

It was either the Holy Spirit or my Guardian Angel who stirred my heart to read that tale at this time. I had read just one paragraph when I realized that the story was an allegory and that its message was for me.

The fir tree lived in a nice spot among the trees, had plenty of sunlight and fresh air, and was admired by people who visited the forest. Still, it only wished to be bigger and greater. It envied the trees that were taken out of the forest. The fir tree ignored the air and sunshine, who advised him to rejoice and enjoy his youth. Eventually, the fir tree was chopped down and became a family’s Christmas tree. After one day of splendor, which was so overwhelming that the tree hardly enjoyed it, the people cast the tree aside. In the garret where it stayed all winter, the fir tree dreamt of its happier days in the forest. When spring came and people brought the fir tree outside, it realized that its branches were withered, and wished it were back in the dark garret. Thus, the fir tree neglected to appreciate most of its life, always wishing for something else or something more.

Andersen and Ecclesiastes

Whether Hans Christian Andersen ever studied the Book of Ecclesiastes, I do not know. But “The Fir Tree” illustrates lessons from that Old Testament book. Ecclesiastes tells us, “Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you ask about this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). Rather than pine away for the past, Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing better than to be glad and to do well during life” (3:12). Wishing for the past or the future, one fails to appreciate the richness of the present. Our homes are quieter and plainer, perhaps, after the Christmas season. Similarly, family structure alters, as children are born and then grow up. People need to relish the good in all seasons. “Live in the present,” a popular modern proverb, is also the will of God, as noted in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

A Reassuring Perspective

Of course, to be glad, as Ecclesiastes 3:12 encourages, is sometimes impossible. In the darkest times, one can only pray for wisdom and strength, and do as well as possible until the Lord sends relief and new blessings.

Perhaps the best-known verses in Ecclesiastes are those which list the times and seasons of life: “A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant … A time to keep, and a time to cast away” (3:2, 6). These phrases and their surrounding text present a reassuring, wholesome perspective. A sense that all things have a proper place reminds us to accept each as it comes, joy and sorrow, festivity, and the end of the festive season.

The Riddle of Time

This theme of time and seasons is developed further in Ecclesiastes 3:15: “What now is has already been; what is to be, already is; and God restores what would otherwise be displaced.” These lines comprise the riddle of time that perplexes humans. God is not bound by earthly time. At any given instant in the past, present, or future, God is, and his kingdom also is. The kingdom of God, while we long for it in eternity, exists now in heaven and in some ways on earth as well. When we strive to do God’s will, and when we accept for love of God and the joys and sorrows of this life, we are advancing his kingdom on earth.

A Promise to Restore

This same verse, Ecclesiastes 3:15, offers hope to people whose holidays are marred by heartbreak. Those experiencing sorrow have a promise that God will restore and mend their broken hearts. All will be according to his will in his time. For our part, the holy season just passed reminds us to reach out to those whose sadness we might alleviate with our sympathy and care.

In family life, Ecclesiastes 3:15 relates to the dynamic of parents and children. “What now is has already been.” The grandchildren are as the children once were. My little boys and girls have grown into good men and women. Our relationships with them as young adults add a gratifying new dimension to our lives. Their toys are in the attic, waiting for the grandchildren to play with them. The phrase, “What is to be, already is,” reflects the circle of life, as we parents foreshadow something of what our adult children will be a generation from now. Such is the way that God has ordered our earthly journey. This understanding fosters peace and contentment, even amidst fond memories of past joyful days or hopes for the future.

Returning to Ordinary Time, we rejoice in God’s blessings and trust in his goodness and mercy throughout the seasons of our lives.