Dec 14 2008
On the first day of Christmas…
On the first day of Christmas… I wrapped the last of my presents for my family!
I was curious to see what the partridge in the pear tree was all about, so I went to the greatest source of information: the Internet. (That was sarcastic. Everyone knows the greatest source is my dad, Robert Redford.) At any rate, here’s what I found:
“One of the many folk beliefs associated with fruit trees goes like this: a young woman who walks backward three times around a pear tree on Christmas morning, then gazes into its branches, can see the image of her future husband. In the song, the partridge in a pear tree may be symbolic of her suitor, since the male Alectoris Rufa, the red-legged partridge, is renowned for his lust.”
Well that’s just silly. I’d much rather find a cardboard blue-eyed elf (that would be my mmm… life-sized Legolas!) than a bird known for his lust… elves are much more chivalrous, especially when shooting long-range targets with arrows. So since this description wasn’t enough to make me want a partridge or a pear tree, I kept looking. What I found next was much more satisfying:
“But what most people don’t realize is that the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was created to be a teaching aid. The song is an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something of religious significance. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help young Christians learn their faith during a time of persecution… The mother partridge will lure enemies away from the nest of defenseless chicks in order to protect them. She will literally risk her life for her children. The bird’s willingness to die for its young made it an ancient Christian symbol of Christ. The pear tree represents the cross.”
Now that’s impressive! Talk about your first-day-of-Christmas gift! A much more noble love, I’d say, and certainly worth singing about.
I read I John 2:1-2 this morning, and the partridge reminds me of it:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Praise God for the partridge - the Righteous One - who is our atoning sacrifice and the gift of eternal life. And thank God for the pear tree, the cross on which Jesus took all of our sin away, spoke on our behalf to the Father, and made us holy!
