From the Pastor's Pen

Dear friends,

I received a gift at my door today from a dear member of the church today – jar of pickles!  How kind.  I like pickles. 

The pickles actually reminded me of the pickle ornament on my tree.  It was given to us about 20 years ago when we first moved to Sturgis Michigan.  The giver told us everyone has pickles on their Christmas Trees in Michigan, and he was surprised we had never heard of this tradition.  I was actually raised in Michigan and never had a pickle on my tree, so I didn’t know what he was talking about.  Still we hung the green glass ornament on our tree and I have wondered about it ever since.

So today, having gotten a jar of pickles as a Christmas gift, I looked up the tradition of the pickle on the Christmas tree.  Turns out it’s a tradition with a bit of a sketchy history.  The tradition purports the “pickle in the tree” idea comes from Germany, although the Germans dispute this as they don’t hang pickles in their trees.  So perhaps it’s an American tradition?  Where ever the idea got started, apparently after the tree is completely decorated, the green glass pickle is supposed to be the last ornament hung – usually by the parents late at night.  In the morning the child who finds the pickle gets an extra gift.  That seems a nice tradition.  Too bad I didn’t know about it when my children were little.  On the other hand they might have destroyed the tree trying to find the pickle first, so maybe it’s just as well.  I had competitive children.

In contrast to the pickle game, I invite you to remember the best gift at Christmas is God’s gift of himself to all of us.  God became small and finite and crept into our world.  A few people saw him and discovered his whereabouts in those first few weeks of life and they marveled at him and were never the same.  Rest assured, however, his presence became widely known and the gift of his love is endless.  It’s a gift that is not hidden or reserved for one child.  It is for all of us.  It is for you.

Peace,

Pr. Sally