This year as you decorate your Christmas tree, I have a story I’d like you to think about. Within the Holy Bible, there lies a great mystery. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, partook of the forbidden fruit, and thereby became mortal. You remember the story. The opportunity for man to be and become began then.

However, here’s the mystery: There were two trees in the Garden of Eden – “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,” and “The Tree of Life.”

After partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, and [were] not allowed to return and partake of the “Tree of Life.” And from there, it seems as though the entire Bible is a saga of man’s continued fall from that mysterious tree. What was that tree, and how do we get back to it? Well, there’s the story.

Thirty-four centuries later another great prophet saw that same “Tree of Life” in a vision. He described it as beautiful, white, and precious above every other tree. And of course, he wanted to know what the tree meant.

In response to his question, he was shown in vision the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. It was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who would not be born for some 600 years. The next thing he saw was Mary caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, and when he next saw her, she was bearing the Christ-child in her arms.

After witnessing the scenes of Christmas, the prophet was then asked if he understood now the meaning of “The Tree of Life.”

“…Yea,” he said in answer. “it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men…” (1 Nephi 11:22)

You see? “The Tree of Life” was a representation of God’s love, and Christ’s birth was the gift given to us of that love. Thus, Christmas is all about man’s return to “The Tree of Love.” Christ came to lead us back to the love of God. There is nothing in this world that is more powerful, more pure, more precious, and more desirable to any of us than to partake of the love of almighty God through Jesus Christ. That love is so powerful, it is life itself. To have that love, to feel that love is to live, and to live without that love is only to exist.

Now, do you understand? Christmas has always been, and still is, all about love – God for His Son, the Son for us, and us for each other. This year, this Christmas, I hope that the gift of charity, that perfect, pure, and unfailing love, may take root in your heart and become a “Tree of Life” – that reaches toward Heaven, and spreads over your family and friends.

You know, now that I think about it, somehow it seems fitting that the symbol at the center of our Christmas is an Evergreen tree.

Merry Christmas, and much love.