A gift from a giant
I met someone who was alive when Jesus walked on this earth.
I traveled a long distance to meet him. And as I finally stood before him, I felt like a small boy lost in the snow. He towered mightily above me and though I tried to gaze up at his face, his features were partly hidden by the sun that sparkled behind him like a regal crown. I reached out to touch his massive furrowed body and I sensed him look down at me in amusement.
His name is General Sherman, the biggest and most massive living being today. At 275 feet, he is as tall as a 27-story building. It would take over a dozen people holding hands to fully encircle his massive trunk. He is a giant sequoia tree who has lived in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, according to some, as far back as when King David ruled Israel. Though estimates of his age vary widely, most experts agree that he was already at least several hundred years old by the time Jesus was born.
Since the beginning of time, trees have been nature’s mute witnesses to man’s history. The thought that this magnificent being had seen the star of Bethlehem when it first appeared in the nighttime sky over two thousand years ago overwhelmed me. I wondered if he felt then that something big was afoot. Whales are believed to be able to communicate with each other over thousands of miles of open water. In their own special way, perhaps trees can do the same thing through their roots that run deep into the earth. I imagined General Sherman conferring with the even more ancient Methuselah, the bristlecone pine tree in the nearby White Mountains who sprouted right after the great flood 5,000 years ago, if this could finally be the sign of the Messiah that the humans had for centuries been waiting for. I thought of the excitement that must have gone up and down the forests as his brothers from a faraway land excitedly sent news of three magi from the east who were tracking the mysterious new star. How he must have followed closely the difficult journey of those three kings who traveled for perhaps months across the long and dusty roads of a strange and foreign land; and who braved the murderous King Herod just so that they could offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the anointed Savior. How he must have shared their initial shock when the star stopped upon a stable and they found the newborn King lying in a manager wrapped in swaddling clothes. How exhilarated he must have felt as their shock gave way to profound adoration as the genius of God’s plan dawned on them.
My brief encounter with General Sherman gave me a deep feeling of reverence that I had not known in a long time. It was a precious gift from a giant that has also caused me to pause and reflect about my views on Christmas.
Despite everyone’s best efforts, Christmas has increasingly become more of a secular holiday that begins, for many Filipinos, in November (or even as early as October) and ends on Dec. 25. By then, everyone is so tired from all the shopping, parties, and celebrations that it sometimes even feels anti-climactic. Yet according to Church tradition, the celebration of “Christmas” doesn’t actually start until Christmas Day itself and lasts for 12 days up to the day before the Epiphany on Jan. 6. Epiphany, which in Greek means “to make known,” remembers the visit of the three magi bearing gifts to the Christ child, who by doing so “reveal” Jesus to the world as Lord and King. On the other hand, the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day is known as Advent. In Latin, advent means “coming“ and refers to the approaching birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. It is a period of expectant hope and prayerful anticipation, and symbolizes the long wait throughout the Old Testament for the promised coming of the Savior. The full beauty of the Christmas season cannot be truly appreciated without properly celebrating these three important events. For what is the use of the Nativity if there is no plan of salvation as was “revealed” during the Epiphany? And as one writer noted, “Without Advent, Christmas is all too easily reduced to a sentimental story about a baby, and even Good Friday and Easter are in danger of losing their meaning.”
Advent has sadly been the most “forgotten” as it runs smack against the height of the commercialization of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong though. Unlike the “Grinch who stole Christmas,” I have no intention of proposing that we ban gifts, decorations, and all other festivities. For indeed, Christmas has become the most joyful time for celebrations whether you truly believe in Jesus or not. But for us Christians, it ought to be something more. It has to be.
Advent is one of the few Christian festivals that can be celebrated both at home and in church. For our children, perhaps we could add more meaning to their Christmas by making an Advent wreath with them. As a family, we can then light the candles each day at home — one candle the first week of Advent, and then another each succeeding week until Dec. 25. A song can be sung and a prayer, a bible reading, or a short Christmas story can be read as accompanying rites to the lighting. Other ideas are to put up a Jesse Tree or an Advent Star Ladder.
As old-fashioned or uncool as it may sound, it has to also be a time for spiritual preparation for us adults. And to do this, I think that we need to learn once more from those three wise men. Just as the magi journeyed before meeting the Christ Child, perhaps we too should make our own spiritual journey — to prepare ourselves quietly, contemplatively, and prayerfully so that we can truly be ready to receive Him on Christmas Day.
And while the focus of the entire Christmas season is on the birth of Jesus in His First Advent, it is important to remember that an equal, if not more important, theme of Advent is the Second Coming of Christ. We are now somewhere in between the First Coming of Jesus when He was born in Bethlehem and His Second Coming when He will come again to judge all of us at the end of time. When this will happen, no one knows. But I know of a giant who has been patiently waiting for two millennia. He stands high up in the mountains of North America like a tireless sentry constantly looking out into the horizon each day for another sign, the words from Mathew 25:13 etched in his thoughts: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
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Advent Fair
Come and join the Manila Waldorf School community as it holds its annual Advent Fair on Saturday, Dec. 6. The fair will be held at its campus located at 3 Vinsons Street, Heroes Hills, Quezon City. For details, call 374-2922 or 374-2923 or e-mail contact@manilawaldorfschool.edu.ph.
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E-mail your reactions to kindergartendad@yahoo.com.
