CHRISTMAS SPIDERS

It was snowing, and we already had a good six inches on the ground. I was standing on the Rocking Chair Porch, watching some of the younger guests building a snowman. I say younger, but you must understand that for someone in their seventies pushing eighty, people in their thirties, or heck, even forties qualify as young.

Dr. Cornelius Burgos, a retired Church of Christ minister, was also on the porch. He and his wife had moved to Florida after his retirement, but this year, missing the seasonal changes, they decided to spend winter in the mountains.

It was that time of year when people were starting to decorate their homes for Christmas. Christmas trees were for sale on just about every vacant lot in the city. Holiday shopping was in full swing, and you could feel the excitement as people counted down the days to Christmas. Naturally, the minister and I started talking about the holiday.

I asked Dr. Burgos if the commercialism bothered him. “Sometimes,” I said, “the real reason for Christmas seems to get lost in the excitement of tree decorating and all the gift-giving and getting.”

Dr. Burgos’s face lit up at the question, and he said, “Not at all, my friend. I consider it wonderful. Trees, and particularly evergreens, have been a symbol of growth, death, and rebirth throughout the ages. They represent the joy of life God has endowed us with. And Christmas is a celebration of gift-giving. After all, Christ was a gift—the greatest gift of all. I’m sure you remember the words: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

Dr. Burgos continued, “Throughout the ages, Christmas has been about giving. To help the children of our church understand that we give Christmas gifts and decorate our Christmas trees to celebrate the birth of Christ, I tell them the Ukrainian story of the Christmas Spiders. Would you like to hear it?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Well, there are variations, but the one I was taught in my village goes like this:

Once upon a time, a poor mother lived with her children in a small home. Outside their house was a tall pine tree, from which a pinecone dropped and began to grow in the soil. The children had heard stories of people decorating trees to honor Christ on his birthday. So, they tended to the tree, ensuring that it would grow strong until it became tall enough to be a Christmas tree they could bring inside their home.

On Christmas Eve, the tree was ready, and the mother got busy cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year—the day on which the Christ child was born. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished to a corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's cleaning.

Unfortunately, the family was poor. Even though they had their Christmas tree, they had no gifts to place under it, nor could they afford ornaments to decorate it in celebration of Christ’s birthday.

The spiders, another of God’s beloved creatures, heard the sobs of the children as they went to bed and decided they would not leave the tree bare. So, the spiders created beautiful webs on the Christmas tree as their gift, decorating it with elegant, silky patterns.

When the children woke up early on Christmas morning and saw their beautiful tree, they jumped with excitement. God was pleased, and as the rays of the sun shone on the tree, his blessing turned the webs into glittering silver and gold. The Christmas tree dazzled and sparkled with a magical twinkle. Thus, the blessed family never suffered from want again.

To this day, gold and silver-colored tinsel decorates Christmas trees all over the world, and we exchange gifts to celebrate the birthday of Christ.