Dear friends,

Again this year, for the hundredth time, I was asked the question: "What do you think are the pros and cons of live and artificial Christmas trees from an ecological point of view?" 

Among us are a large number of supporters of "live" Christmas trees and they argue primarily with tradition, but also with the smell of pine needles. Opposing them in the debates are the proponents of artificial trees. Lower costs or even ecology are their main argumentative weapons. 

I think that perhaps we should start with what Christmas is all about. 

For Christians, it is the birth of Jesus. His birth symbolizes a new life for man, because thanks to his coming into the world, death and resurrection, everyone can be saved and achieve eternal life. Probably most of us know that this Christian holiday is an adopted pagan celebration, when the church gave Christian meaning to the winter solstice holiday, celebrated by our ancestors. 

But for our Slavic ancestors, they were also optimistic holidays. 

And that optimism, whether Christian or Old Slavic, is for me the main message of Christmas. 

I am fascinated by the fact that at the beginning of winter, when the time of misery and hardship was just beginning, people were able to rejoice in the first steps of the returning sun. Perhaps this is the quality that makes a person human. I think that it is precisely because people were able to recognize the flowers of the new spring on frozen and snowy twigs that humanity has survived so much evil and is still here. Perhaps it is this art of seeing the light of spring days behind problems, perhaps the art of welcoming the returning sun at its first steps back, that gave people the strength to endure. To endure harsh winters in wooden cabins, to endure years of crop failure, to endure long journeys in search of a new home. Whether you call it stubbornness or tenacity, or foresight or idle dreaming, we should not forget that it is always necessary to look far ahead. To recognize what awaits us in the future, just as simple people recognized it long before us. And not to be afraid to celebrate the return of the sun at the right time, even when a deep and gloomy winter night is still around. 

And with these Christmas holidays, whether Christian or Old Slavic, the Christmas tree, which is so popular today, is mistakenly associated. 

For our ancestors, the ancient Slavs, the symbol of Christmas in their homes were green twigs and Kračún bread. Kračún is the old name for the solstice holidays, and the green bramble originally served not a decorative but a protective function. The Slavs stuck it behind the doors of barns to protect livestock and behind the beams in the log cabin to protect the entire family. 

With the arrival of Christianity in our territory, nativity scenes were added to families. And so it was for hundreds of years. 

Then came the Christmas tree as a demonstrably German bourgeois product. It appeared in Germany at the same time as the first clear-cuttings in the seventeenth century. During the eighteenth century, this custom spread among the upper German classes. During the nineteenth century, the idea of ​​a felled fir tree as a true German Christmas symbol began to spread throughout Austria-Hungary. Slovaks and Czechs long resisted the idea of ​​a Christmas tree, arguing that the custom was of non-Slavic origin. After 1900, however, trees definitively replaced the popular Christian nativity scene. 

So what kind of tree? 

For me, the answer is clear. None. 

Celebrating Christmas, whether we are Christians or of other faiths, by unnecessarily killing any life is a denial of the meaning of this optimistic holiday. Fighting against the surrounding nature and unnecessary killing is alien to our Slavic morality. If we are Christians, let us bring Christ back into our hearts. As the saying goes: “If Christ were born a thousand times in Bethlehem, it is of no use to us if he is not born in our hearts.” 

The rest of us should not be afraid to celebrate the return of the sun, even if it is still a deep and gloomy winter night. And let us all bake Kračún bread to go with it. 

The sun is returning.

I wish everyone a beautiful and blessed Christmas. 

Ing. Juraj Lukáč Winter Solstice 2009