A Partridge in a Pear Tree

 

 A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

 “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” — Deuteronomy 31:6

      One of the most iconic songs during the Christmas season is "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  This song which seems to have a love of birds has enchanted people for hundreds of years.  We are unsure of the exact history of the song, but it seems to have been originally written to help children learn to count or memorize.  It also might have been a song used during the play of a game.  The song was especially important during the time of Epiphany (Christmas to January 6th). The music that rings in our ears was born in the early 1900's.  What lesson can this song help teach those of us that are grieving?   

      The first day of Christmas gives us a single partridge in a pear tree.  I highly doubt that is very high up on our Christmas list.  For that matter I've never asked for a bird and to be completely honest I'm not sure what kind of bird a partridge is.  But this bird conveys a lonely image if you look at it literally.  It is one single bird.  It reminds me of the song "One is the loneliest number."  This is the only gift given alone, in solitude. Grief often feels like that: one soul perched alone in a world that seems to move forward.  When a person loses someone important to them it feels as if their world has paused while everyone else continues to go about their daily life.  The days feel longer, the nights are almost torturous.  The Christmas season magnifies this.  For the person mourning a missing chair it's hard to watch others shop, put up the tree, prepare meals, and even spend time with loved ones.  The holidays amplify the silence. Rooms feel emptier. Family traditions that no longer fit right.  Grief is so lonely and the Christmas season only amplifies it.  

      And yet, this symbol becomes powerful when we remember that early Christians used the partridge to represent Christ Himself. The One in the tree is not you—it’s Him.  Christ understands loneliness.  He was nailed to a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, paying a price that was not His own, paying a debt that He did not accrue. Matthew wrote "At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?' which means 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"  Christ felt so alone in those final moments.  God the Father even turned His head away from His Son in those final moments.  The Scripture says He was a man of sorrows.  We have good company when we feel alone or misunderstood.  While you may feel like you’re standing alone in the cold branches of a broken life, Jesus is the One who climbed the tree first. He stands with you in the loneliness and stays there until you’re ready to climb down again.  The Scripture promises us that God will never leave us nor forsake us.  That promise doesn't have an asterisk beside it, no small print, or have an expiration date.  It doesn't say that God will only be with you when life makes sense and is peaceful.  He won't ever, no ever, leave you or abandon you.  He does not hurry you. He does not shame you for hurting. He simply stays.

Reflection:

Where do you feel most “alone in the tree” today? Invite Christ to sit with you in that place.

Prayer:

Jesus, I feel the loneliness of this season. Sit with me in this space. Remind me that You are Emmanuel—God with me, even here.