Artificial or Real?

A question pondered many times over the years by many people I'm sure as they wonder what sort of Christmas tree to have. Some people just wouldn't think its Christmas without a real tree. Others would rather buy a tree once and make it last several years. Still others have one (or more) of each. Some grow their own from seed, and that must give a real sense of satisfaction.

We decided some years back that we would have an artificial one, and it served us well for some years, but a year ago it was well passed its best and so last January it got thrown out. It has been replaced by a cheap artificial one this year, but I think it looks quite good anyway.

The tree might not be real, but the light reflected by the decorative baubles is real light. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a decorated tree at the first Christmas in the stable, but there was light - because the Light of the World had come.