The ground beneath Angelkeep’s pin oaks remained littered with autumn’s leaves. Now they become winter’s leaves. The season arrived yesterday.
They have a destiny preordained by God the Creator to die. They will thrive in a new way. Each evolves into nutrition for the tree that gave them life. Newness will come from their death. In science the process was just a part of the life a deciduous tree. Metaphorically this death-to-life reflected the life of the Christ child, His death, His resurrection, and through death, life eternal.
That Christ Child is Christmas. On Sunday nearly all the world will celebrate Christmas Day. Many will, with Angelkeep, celebrate the Messiah Christ Child. Sadly, others will miss the purpose and have a day with but a wrong gift received, needing a next-day trip taken to exchange the gift for something better, totally missing the point. The Christ Child was the supreme gift.
Angelkeep received a traditionally annual gift of a live wreath. The mixed evergreen pine scent filled the room. A spring of holly added to more common needled sprigs drew attention in another way. Angelkeep had no living holly growing within its borders, but the thousands of pin oak leaves mentioned earlier hold nearly the same shape as holly. Angelkeep pin oaks stand in place of holly, metaphorically as the Messiah would one day stand in for every sinner of the world. The Easter story began as the Christmas story.
Holly was evergreen. Evergreen stood easily representative of immortality. Christmas’s Christ Child provided the option of eternal life. Christ became “holy evergreen.”
Holy, one “L,” evolved from the word’s origin, an 11th Century Old High German “hulis” and Old English “holegn.” That latter word literally meant “Holly” as in Holly Tree. In pre-Christian Celtic and Roman worship it had already been considered a sacred plant. The word progressed to a “wholeness,” meaning accepted as an indication of a state of religious completeness or perfection. Completeness of a person at Christmas could only be derived from the Christ Child’s birth. Christmas believers know this came about through that Christ Child’s death.
Metaphorically holly leaves represent the death, not the birth, but remained useful at Christmas as a reminder of the completeness to come for the Messiah Child.
A holly leaf, like Angelkeep’s substitute pin oak leaf, has an edge of wavy segments with the curve facing inward toward its stem, its heart, so to speak. Each tip between the curves holds a prickly spike, reminiscent of a thorn. Holly leaf thorns were more penetrating than Angelkeep’s pin oak leaf. With only scant imagination, the outline of the holly leaf could be considered representative of the crown of thorns the Babe lying in a manger would eventually have thrust down so hard upon His head that the blood of Christ would be shed.
Mythologically the oak tree, like Angelkeep’s pin oak or holly look-alike, was considered king of the rising year, in other words, powerful from winter through summer solstice. Holly gained the opposite perception, reigning as king of the descending year, or summer and fall until winter solstice occurred. That solstice appeared yesterday. Holly bowed to the oak for its reign, thus making it even more fitting that Angelkeep should accept its pin oaks as a Christmas substitute reflection on the holly leaf which carried so much meaning to the Christmas season. The Holly King ruled through the darkness of shorter days and then sacrificed himself as the world gained more lightness over darkness.
In Europe, and accepted at Angelkeep, Holly came to be known as “Christ Thorn.” A legend caused the name. The story handed down generation to generation testified that palm leaves spread on Jerusalem’s street by the crowd as Christ passed through on a donkey amid shouts of “Hosanna” had suddenly changed to holly twigs when the cry from the parade watchers altered their words to “Crucify Him!”
Did holly leaves speak? Did they reflect sacrifice? Could one holly leaf touch a heart at Christmas?
Draw a holly leaf on each gift tag for what you present to another. Pray that the recipient asks you what the holly leaf means. Tell them. Immanuel (God with us.)
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
