Trimming Trees--but Not the Determination : Victims of the Laguna fire show the true spirit of Christmas

Christmas Day this time around finds many of us in Southern California catching our breaths after a roller-coaster ride of a year, counting blessings large and small and maybe cheering the mere fact of having hung in there through a dismal economy and assorted disasters.

Southern California’s resolve to carry on in the face of misfortune and perhaps even its hopes for economic recovery are symbolized wonderfully by those few brave Christmas trees put up by fire victims in burned-out neighborhoods of Laguna Beach and strung proudly with bright ornaments and lights so that they would glow amid the ruins.

For many who migrate to these sunny climes from colder parts, or who come to visit relatives, the winter holiday decorations amid the palm trees may seem a bit incongruous at first. If a Northerner thinks of Southern California during the winter solstice, he is not likely to imagine a Christmas card or make an association with the symbolism of evergreens and beseeching lights designed to drive away the darkness. Rather, our geography conjures a day at the beach, maybe even a carefree moment watching the waves roll in off Laguna.

Likewise, the idea of a Christmas tree in Malibu by the balmy Pacific or in the dry hillside areas of Altadena, both also hit hard by terrible fires this year, seems on its face a valiant effort to import a season that is essentially out of its time and place in a land usually ruled by the latest transient trend.

However, it does not take long to discover the verities of the Christmas spirit, alive and well at our homeless shelters, in the area’s food distribution centers and in the twinkle of Santa’s eye as he hears the dreams of needy children around Southern California.

And while many of us have Christmas trees, Christmas, as it was meant to be and as its customs were adapted from earlier pagan rituals, is to be found in all its true glowing glory and symbolism, standing proudly in those charred remains of homes lost to fire in Laguna Beach.

In trimming trees this year, some residents of the Canyon Acres neighborhood were determined to face down the easy and understandable impulse to give in to despair.

Only two months ago, images of these people and others like them in Southern California, searching through rubble and hugging surviving neighbors, were seen around the world.

Undeterred by the fire and mudslides, they returned to the site of their grave losses to make an affirmative statement about the season by running extension cords from their neighbors’ surviving homes to light the trees. In doing so, they have plugged all of us in to the historical symbolism of Christmas trees around the world.

Even before the tree became a part of Christmas, the evergreen was a survivor in the cold and abbreviated days of northern winters and served as a reminder of the possibilities of renewal and the return of spring.

Today is an important holiday for Christians. However, the message of hope and restoration found in those trees inspires all of us, whatever our backgrounds or beliefs. Merry Christmas.