Why do we love Christmas lights so much? Somehow they communicate joy and festivity around our celebrations of the birth of Jesus. Considering that yesterday was the shortest (and darkest) day of the year, who wouldn’t want more light?
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther was walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, when he was awed by the brilliance of the stars twinkling through evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and attached lighted candles to its branches. Candles were lit to “signify the light of Jesus,” according to John Hanssen, a member of the Golden Glow of Christmas Past, an international organization for Christmas history.
In 1841, Queen Victoria’s German husband, Albert, popularized the Christmas tree in Britain and the idea spread. In the States, President Franklin Pierce put one up at the White House in 1856 and by the 1870s fresh-cut trees with ornaments were being sold at Macy’s. But what really made a tree a Christmas tree were the candles, and while the flickering flames were festive, all those candles had a serious downside, causing numerous fires.
In 1882, Edward Johnson, vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, produced the first electrically illuminated Christmas tree. Thomas Edison was impressed by the idea and over the next eight years, he and Johnson refined the electric light strings until they had a marketable product they called, “Edison miniature lamps for Christmas trees.” Some of you may remember glass light bulbs fashioned to look like flames.
We live in a world that desperately needs light. Many are sick with a new round of COVID, the economy is struggling, diplomats are working hard to negotiate a “Christmas cease fire” in Ukraine. During a break from writing just now I talked to two Homestead high school students on our campus who were classmates of Shreyas Kelkar, the 16-year-old student who is believed to have jumped off the Golden Gate bridge last week. For whatever reasons he was overcome by heartache, loneliness, despair and darkness that caused him to take his own life.
When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” it meant he came at Christmas to bring an end to the darkness. Join us on Sunday to celebrate the “light and life” of Jesus in us! Come and invite your friends, family, and neighbors to our Christmas Eve service at 5 PM on Saturday. Families will all celebrate together for these services. We’ll livestream our Sunday morning service as usual and our Christmas Eve Service will be available on our website on Monday 12/26.
If you are interested, you can see Valley Church member Dennis Mack’s Christmas lights display on YouTube here.
On Wednesday, our dear brother Lyman Taylor entered the presence and light of his Savior. He and J-Mae loved Valley Church and served with us for 63 years! They are face to face with the Light of the World!
In Christ,
Kurt