historic tradition

Today I learned that Jeremiah 10:1-4 says this:

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:

“Learn not the way of the nations,

nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

because the nations are dismayed at them,

3  ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.1

gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

4  hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ithey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

So theoretically that means that the Bible says we aren't supposed to have Christmas trees, but what I get out of it is that for more than roughly 2600 years, people have been hauling trees in the house.

I have participated in a custom that is at least 2600 years old. I thought that in the era of cell phones and people who think chicken spontaneously generates on grocery shelves that we didn't do much our ancestors did, but we do. That's kind of exciting somehow. I feel all connected to history and a little like a cave person all at the same time.