| Legend of the Christmas Spider |
| Once upon a time in Germany long ago a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year. The day on which the Christ Child was to come and bring gifts of Christmas Eve. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from the cozy corner in the ceiling. To avoid the housewife's busy cleaning they finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic. T'was Christmas Eve at last, the tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ Child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door and see Him. Silently, they crept out of their attic and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly the door opened a wee bit, quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. They must see the tree closely, so they crept all over it until they had satisfied themselves completely. But alas! Everywhere they went they left cobwebs! And when the little Christ Child came to bless the tree He was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they are God's creatures, too. But He knew the mother who had trimmed the tree for the little children wouldn't feel the same. So He touched the webs, and they all turned to shimmering, sparkling, silver and gold. Ever since that time Christmas trees have been hung with tinsel. And so it became a custom, according to the story, to have a spider among the decorations on the Christmas tree. |
| Joel, I ran across this today in my mothers recipe box. I don't remember having ever seeing it before, and I thought that it might go good on the Christmas page. Rev Thurston Hill |
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