Advent Traditions: The Jesse Tree and the First week of Advent

 The older I get the faster time flies. We used to put our Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve and felt scandalous if we broke down and put it up a few days earlier. But now, Advent seems over almost before it starts and I've decided that to have the decorations up long enough to fill my cup to the brim, I need to start a lot earlier.

So I've embraced the Jesse Tree tradition with gusto. Putting up the tree in time for the first Sunday of Advent makes perfect sense if you are going to slowly journey through the generations before Christ's birth culminating with the coming of Christ on Christmas.

So the tree is up and during this first week of Advent we are reading the first chapter in Christ's family tree book -- Genesis. We started a few days early because we had visiting grandchildren on Friday. So we put up the tree and the oldest plugged it in as we read the creation story -- "...and God said, 'Let there be light.'" After that we read about the creation of the plants and animals: the birds of the air, the creatures of the sea, and all the land animals including the creepy crawlies. (Of course, we have a bee on the tree in honor of our apiary.) And God gave man dominion over them, the responsibility of being a good steward and caring for them with care.

The Tradition of the Jesse Tree

An apple for Adam & Eve

One of my favorite Advent traditions is the Jesse Tree. We generally set up our tree the first week of Advent and add the lights, but leave them unlit (except when I feel like I need to remind myself that the people in darkness have seen a great light). Then we add symbols of Old Testament and New Testament characters. Sometimes I also put on symbols for the special saints that grace the December calendar like St. Nicholas.

Baby "Noses"

We've already put on a "disco ball" to represent creation, apples for Adam and Eve, sheep and a little sheaf of "wheat" for Cain and Abel, a picture of Noah's ark and a white bird for the dove, a stack of wood and a (butter) knife for Abraham and Isaac, a ladder (from the doll house) for Jacob, a colorful folk doll for Joseph and his many colored coat, a baby doll in a basket for Moses (or "Noses" as my three-year-old granddaughter insists), and today a lily for Mary on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

My oldest child's favorite Jesse tree "ornament" (It tickles her funny bone). is the grey dolphin puppet who masquerades as the whale in the Jonah story. By the time we are ready to "decorate" the tree a few days before Christmas, it will already be filled with wonderful symbols of our faith journey gathered from around the house. I love using everyday objects that we see all year in this special way during Advent.

When grandchildren are here for our Advent wreath lighting (all too infrequently I'm sorry to say) we let them add the figures to the tree and we tell the stories of the characters. My Jesse tree box still has a crown for David, a lion for Daniel, a necklace for Esther, a gleaner's basket for Ruth, and a golden rose for Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th. John the Baptist will get a bee representing his wild honey and Joseph will be represented by a plastic hammer from a child's workbench. And we'll top the tree with the star of Bethlehem.

The Jesse tree makes Advent waiting a wonderful journey through salvation history. How I love it! What a Church we have that offers us so many traditions that help us grow in our faith.