One of my friends called me yesterday distraught at the situation that one of out mutual friends had found herself in. Because times are rough, her mother made the decision to cancel Christmas. This year their house will have no decorations, no presents and, believe it or not, no tree.

Of course, being a Christian family they will probably still go to services and spend the day together as a family, but to me it doesn’t seem to be the same.

I can understand leaving the presents out this year. It can get expensive and there are a million other ways to tell someone that you care about them, but Christmas without a tree seems depressing. My parents just moved (they got there today) into a new house half way across the country and the first thing we are looking forward to doing is putting the tree up in the new house since then it will really be home.

There is something about following traditions in a turbulent time that relaxes us. Having a tree at Christmas tells us that no matter how bad things are, some things will always remain the same. Luckily, most of the country agrees with me and Christmas tree sales actually go up when the economy is in recession. This year, sales are up 10% after the first weekend after Thanksgiving.

I’m as nervous about this recession as everyone else, but if it encourages people to stay home, slow down and spend more time with family, maybe there can be some positives to it. Perhaps if this Christmas there are fewer presents under the tree people will remember that this is a season about giving of oneself to family, friends and even strangers.

In case you need a little help picking your perfect tree, this is a video about some of the most popular types of evergreens.

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