The Christ Tree
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 20, 2014
NANEUM RIDGE STATE FOREST
Every year a group of men trecked through the woods on Christmas Eve to gather around one simple tree.
The tradition began when each of them had been wandering the woods with troubled hearts and horrible memories. Each of them tried to run away from their past after everyone they knew had either walked away from them or pushed them away.
No one walks away from combat the same way they arrived in it no matter how many times they went. Each time a piece of them is left there and a different one tags along. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder cannot be cured but it can be healed and it can be defeated.
Think of it this way. Painful Transition from Stressful Deployments. It wins by defeating what is still good inside of the veterans by attacking the source of everything. Their courage, compassion and their love for those they were willing to die for.
The first Christmas Eve they came together they discovered a man sitting near the tree. His name was Adam and just like them, he had been searching for a place where he would belong again. He had been to hell and back in more ways than one after several years of Vietnam.
Adam became their humble spiritual leader of sorts.
That first Christmas Eve, he'd led them in a prayer of thankfulness, which, considering the circumstances, seemed a bit odd at first to all of them. See, the issue was, each of them were homeless veterans. How can a homeless veteran be thankful for anything after losing so much?
Adam told them the Christmas story in a way they had never heard before. He reminded them that Mary gave birth without a place to stay. Joseph was searching for some place where her child could come into the world but ended up in nothing more than a place where animals were sheltered. In other words, Christ started out His first days on this earth without a place to call home.
Luke 2
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Adam then talked about the horror following the birth of Jesus with the
Massacre of the Innocents and the way they had to leave to stay in Egypt until it was safe to return to their country.
Mary and Joseph would have been dealing with survivors guilt considering their child lived while so many others were slaughtered. They would have had to worry about where to sleep and how to find food. So many things about those first years of the life of Jesus were not mentioned in most sermons.
When Jesus traveled later in His life He depended on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter.
All of His hardships were suffered while knowing He would sacrifice His life in the end.
Christmas was supposed to be about giving, not getting. It was supposed to be about doing things unselfishly for the sake of others and not about what they needed or what they didn't have.
Adam reminded the other veterans that Christ had managed to forgive the hands that nailed Him to the cross and it was time for them to forgive anyone who did wrong to them as well. Above all, it was time for them to forgive themselves.
Amazingly enough, Adam had 12 tiny wrapped boxes to give out. When the boxes were unwrapped, they were empty. Adam stood up and walked over to each veteran. He placed his hand on their shoulder and asked what they wanted to be in the box.
The first one said he wished it was a key. A key to unlock memories so they could get out of his head and leave him alone.
The second one asked for the first one to have a key so that he could share the key with him afterwards.
As Adam walked around the circle, the same wish was asked for.
The gifts Christ gave to be unwrapped were to be unwrapped from the spirit.
None of them wanted to be rich. None of them wanted to go back in time to avoid going to Vietnam. None of them asked for anything other than to find peace.
Adam pulled a tiny bible out of his pocket that had been with him during his deployments. He made them a promise that night that he would fill their wishes by the following Christmas Eve if they didn't give up on each other and meet once a week.
Sure enough they did just that. They met the next year around the Christ tree. They prayed together and then Adam handed them boxes again. Again the boxes were empty and again Adam asked what they wanted to be inside the box.
The first one asked for a new pair of boots for his buddy in the circle. One by one each of them asked for something to be given to one of the others.
Adam asked if any of them found the key. They said they did the first night they met. The key to unlocking bad memories to fill them with good ones and look at their survival differently.
Life wasn't about how they came to be in this world as much as it was they were in this world. It wasn't about fitting in with people in general as much as it was about fitting in with people they shared a bond with much like the 12 who traveled with Christ. It didn't matter about stuff they didn't have or couldn't give as much as it was priceless what they did have to share.
The Christ tree still stands in the woods and each year different veterans come together and hear about that first Christmas Eve long after Adam passed away.
(Fiction so don't look for the tree but look instead for what you can do to heal. Then do it, get stronger so you can pass your key onto someone else.)
