Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

We have all heard the complaints about Christmas becoming too commercialized. But have you ever considered that even the Christmas Tree itself has become commodified and the desire for the perfect Christmas tree, (and I would argue the "easy" Christmas tree) is part of the problem? Many would take a look at this picture and think, how nice, a real Christmas tree. I would say, that there is no such thing as a "real" Christmas tree today. The trees you see here are manufactured constructions of a "real" Christmas tree. No longer is the search for the Christmas tree a family event where we go to the woods behind our home, cut it down with an ax and saw, load it on our horse or wagon and take it home together, where we have hot cocoa infront of the fireplace and then sing carols while we decorate the tree. Today, in fact, we are more than ever picking our tree up at Wal-Mart with the lights already on it and very little decorating required.