religious struggles

in the days and weeks to come, i'm going to begin a dialogue, mostly with myself, regarding my struggles with reconciling my fiance's religious upbringing with my own....


this is kind of a pot-shot opening, but i have to get it off my chest...

it strikes me as odd that a church, a WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod), which is so paritcular about the image it puts forth and the words chosen and who can participate with them in worship, including a) changing words to common and wide-spread praise songs (ok, i've just heard maybe 2 of these) b) practicing closed communion - not the modern protestant practice of closing communion to unbelievers, but closing communion to those who are not of their own particular denomination, and, specifically, synod, c) prohibing who can participate in a wedding ceremony to only WELS members so that i cannot have any of my friends participate in the ceremony, nor will i be able to take communion with my new bride during the ceremony...etc...

it strikes me as odd that this church would have a 50 foot tall christmas tree smack dab in the middle of the alter. ok, it was off to the side, but it's hard for a 50 foot tree to not dominate the scene...blocking off even the icon of jesus at the back of the alter.

some words on the historical significance of the christmas tree:

"The Christmas tree is often explained as a Christianization of the ancient pagan idea that the evergreen tree represents a celebration of the renewal of life. In Roman mosaics from what is today Tunisia, showing the mythic triumphant return from India of the Greek god of wine and male fertility, Dionysus (dubbed by some modern scholars as a life-death-rebirth deity), the god carries a tapering coniferous tree. Medieval legends, nevertheless, tended to concentrate more on the miraculous "flowering" of trees at Christmas time. A branch of flowering Glastonbury thorn is still sent annually for the Queen's Christmas table in the United Kingdom.
Taiwanese aboriginals, tutored by Christian missionaries, celebrate with trees (Cunninghamia lanceolata) outside their homes.

Among early Germanic tribes the Yule tradition was celebrated by sacrificing male animals, and slaves, by suspending them on the branches of trees. According to Adam of Bremen, in Scandinavia the pagan kings sacrificed nine males of each species at the sacred groves every ninth year. According to one legend, Saint Boniface attempted to introduce the idea of trinity to the pagan tribes using the cone-shaped evergreen trees because of their triangular appearance."

But, I suppose, if Martin Luther did it, it must be ok...

"Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy."

you might say i'm being picky here...but...that's just it. big organizations and large organized religions begin to find it difficult to be 100% consistent in every single thing they do, ultimately leading to compromises in areas that fit their fancy, but not in others that have either "been done for years" or don't suit their agendas...

i dunno. i've got to figure out a way to reconcile all of this. god, please grant me wisdom.