I came upon an Evergreen
Its branches stark and bare.
Its edges sharp and prickly,
Poking out everywhere.
Its trunk somewhat misshapen;
Its needles parched and pale
Its roots all bound and withered
Neither hearty, whole, nor hale.
Fading, failing, lifeless
Without love or care.
I took it home to love it,
An opportunity rare.
I propped it in a bucket
And helped it stand upright.
Its branches scraped and bit me;
It put up quite a fight.
A strong and firm foundation
Was needed at the base,
To help rebuild its shape and form—
To bring it back to grace.
I warmed it and I fed it;
I watered it and more,
I offered it my time and help
So it could be restored.
It slowly started trusting.
Letting down its guard.
But next I had to prune it;
A task that proved quite hard.
Branches required trimming
To even out its look—
Snipping, clipping, cutting
All of these it took.
It cried and pleaded, “Stop it.”
But boldly I kept on.
I knew exactly where to cut
Each part, each branch, each frond.
But finally I was finished
With the hard but needful task.
The time had come to lavish love
And let my new tree bask
In love and care and nourishment
And all things being new.
The time had come to bestow gifts,
Many, not a few.
To restore the radiant beauty
That’s lost without the Source.
Without the Giver of the Life
The tree wandered off course.
So I opened up my treasures
And began to trim my tree
To show the world my love for him
To make him glow for me.
I started with some garland
Gold and twinkling bright.
I added light to help him shine
A beacon in the night.
Some ornaments of red and green,
Some beads of gossamer white,
And on the top an angel
To give him added height.
And then, The Lord, He whispered,
“You see what you have done?”
You’ve modeled what I’ve done for you
By giving you My Son.
My child, you are rooted
Grafted in the Vine;
You shine MY LIGHT through all the world
And let them know you’re mine.
Your tree will be a symbol
Of life restored, reborn
A reminder of the birth of Christ
That long ago Christmas morn.”