The Friends Will Have a Christmas Tree
Posted: Sunday, December 11, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
Well, we settled this year’s Christmas tree problem at Meeting for Business Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t as big of a ‘whoop-de-do’ as some of us expected. When the smoke cleared; yes, we’re having a decorated tree again this year, in the school house, though. Not even the most adamant supporter or promoter would think of suggesting we put one in the Meetinghouse. That really would be un-Quakerly.
In the past, we usually had a Christmas tree in the school house. Last year there was sort of a 'stink' over it, though. The Friend who always donated it couldn’t give us one anymore for some reason, and we didn’t want to buy one. There were legitimate arguments against having one, too. First, Quaker tradition doesn’t recognize Christmas. Every day is 'the Lord’s day' and is no more special than any other. Second, Simplicity is an important Quaker testimony. There are no adornments in the Meetinghouse. 'Dressing up' a person or a place promotes pride, and that calls into question the testimony of Equality. Third, Christmas trees began as a symbol in a pagan religion, and after all, Friends are, for the most part, Christians. Fourth, another testimony is Stewardship of resources. Was cutting down a tree in tune with that? The suggestion of a plastic tree freaked out almost everybody. A couple of people offered to plant a tree or two to make up for it so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Last year, we didn’t get anywhere, though. Some of the more conservative Friends held their ground. A Quaker Meeting is not a democracy. Nothing can be done without a consensus. If one person has a strong enough opinion and will not yield, will not ‘stand aside’ as we call it, we can’t act. So, we tabled the idea of a Christmas tree and scheduled to discuss it again at the January Meeting for Business.
A few ‘heads got hot,’ shall we say. It might not seem so sometimes, but Friends are normal people, so a few grudges developed. By the next Meeting for Business on the second First Day in the First Month, that’s Sunday, in January (Quakers number days and months because they don’t want to call them by names derived from pagan gods or stellar objects. When we get home, we usually call them the same thing everybody else does, though), by then, nobody seemed too interested in Christmas trees and the whole issue was dropped.
This year we got an offer for a free Christmas tree again. It was discussed at length in committee and a consensus was reached to put a proposal to Meeting for Business. I was a little nervous. I like peace and quiet. We were ready for another long meeting. There was a flurry of emails among committee members about how to present the proposal. Tensions rose as memories of last year’s debate resurfaced.
I got to Meeting for Worship a little early. I noticed that, in preparation for our candlelight Peace and Light service on December 18th, someone had put candles and sprigs of evergreen on the Meetinghouse window sills. “Hummm…” I said to myself, “Decorating for Christmas are we?” That was more adornment than I’d seen since somebody picked flower in the spring. It encouraged me about the Christmas tree proposal, though. After all, 95% of our members are converts. Most of us grew up sitting in crowed churches with blaring organs, big choirs and flamboyant celebrations at Christmas.
Everybody knew it was coming, so the Christmas tree proposal was addressed toward the end of the Meeting for Business. The discussion was pretty much the same as last year. A few of the grudges surfaced, but were ‘set aside.’ The consensus was that almost everybody either didn’t really care (I was one of them), or wanted a Christmas tree in the school house for the holidays. Several who didn’t want one, for the reasons mentioned above, gave their opinion then, realizing the general ‘sense of Meeting, ’ stood aside.
So, we’re having a Christmas tree in the school house this year. Just this year, though. It’s a prime example of the type of proposal that must be brought before Meeting for Business. Anything that really stirs things up, gets people’s dander up, puts fire in people’s eyes and produces conflict must be discussed at length until we all agree. That’s the Quaker Way, baby.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Good job, Jack:)Thanks for reading and commenting
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