♦D 10, 2020

Montgomery Bap st Priori es: We will priori ze the…

 Gospel above all by mee ng human need and plan ng gospel seed
 Star ng and replan ng of churches for all people
 Equipping and sending of pastors and missionaries to the River Region and the ends of the earth.

Where Did the Silver Pom-Pom Tree Go?
It was Christmas, 1964. As a youngster, my habit
was to wake up early every morning and go to the
family room. There in the early dawn hours, I would
cut on the television, wait for the tube to warm up,
and watch all the little people dancing. What actually
was taking place was snow from the screen, as our
one station in Macon, Georgia, would go off the air
at midnight and return at 6:30 am. To my
kindergarten imagination, the snow was little people
on the dance floor. I had joined my morning party.
Neal Hughes On that Christmas morning, to my shock when I
Director of Missions
entered the room was the fallen Christmas tree.
Mother and Daddy had a big one that year. It was a
North Carolina Spruce that reached to the ceiling. Somehow in the
middle of the night, the big tree, full of ornaments and with lights on (it
was our tradition to leave all the lights on for Santa), had taken a fall.
It was a wonder that nothing else was damaged and that there had not
been a fire that most likely would have taken our lives.
The Christmas Tree Tragedy of 64 (as it came to be called) frightened
my father to the point that the next year, he was determined to get an
artificial tree.
Just after Thanksgiving in 1965, our family’s patriarch went shopping
and returned with the absolute ugliest tree the world had ever made. It
was a silver pom-pom tree with a separate revolving light. No more
extra lights. No more new or unique ornaments.
It was a profound, elegant, expensive, ugly tree. But to Dad, he could
not have been prouder. It was his “lacy leg lamp” from Christmas Story.
For the rest of the Hughes family, it was the “hidden shame” tree. To my
sister and me, Christmas was ruined. Mom even closed the curtains. All
Christmas parties at the house had ceased. Even Santa got a letter
suggesting that he leave our presents next door. But as far as my army/
converted banker dad was concerned, he had arrived in society.
The tree somehow mysteriously disappeared between Christmas 67 and
Christmas 68. It was never discussed again at a family gathering. I write
about it now because my parents are dead, and I do not believe that one
can be haunted by his parents. I really think my mother took the
shameful tree out in the back yard and buried it, then buried the shovel.
But I will have to wait till I get to heaven to get the real scoop.
Life went forth with a fresh tree for years, followed by an attractive
artificial green tree. But to this day, my sister and I will never allow our
spouses, children, or grandchildren to even look at a silver pom-pom tree
with a revolving light in the vintage section of today’s shopping malls.
Over the years, we have chosen to look beyond those crippling years of
the psychedelic sixties. Together, we embraced some holy amnesia and
joined mom in burying the shovel.
As you approach Christmas and the New Year, what do you need to
bury, to change, to put away in exchange for a new day? What do you
need to let go of from your past? The songwriter said it best, “Shattered
dreams, wounded hearts, broken toys, give them all to Jesus. He will
turn your sorrows into joy.” Join Paul today in saying this about your
past: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ
Jesus” Philippians 3:13-14. Start
Christmas off with a fresh slate and
bury the tree. Put the past in the
rearview window and push forward
as you serve King Jesus.
I love you and count it a joy to serve
with you in the River Region.
Sign up using the link below
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Upward, newsletter in your inbox.
Neal http://eepurl.com/dpdvlb

SAM’s
SAM s Angel Market
Thank you to our many volunteers who have worked diligently over the last few
months to make 2020 SAM’s Angel Market a huge success. One hundred and
nine families have registered to participate, with 284 children between the ages
of two and twelve receiving gifts. So many churches, individuals, and organiza-
tions have helped us work towards our goal of 250 $50 contributions. Stay tuned
next week to see how far we have come in meeting our goal and to see pictures
from the event.

Montgomery Baptist Association • 20 Interstate Park Dr. • Montgomery, Alabama 36109 • 334-271-6227 • www.mgmbaptists.org
This publication is made possible by your churches’ contributions to Associational Missions.