Serendipity: The Jesse Tree

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All written material and original photographs on this site copyright © 2006-2012 by the author. If you see a good idea here, it's the work of the Holy Spirit. All good things are inspired by God. Ultimately, the Hat Tip belongs to Him, and only to Him. (And if you see a bad idea, it's because we weren't listening closely--please pray for us;-). God wants us to share and to encourage one another, so if you see a good idea here, please feel free to pass it along. And if the Holy Spirit nudges you, send your friends our way, too. We'd love to meet them! Remember, the ideas were shared freely with you; share them freely with others. "Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8

There shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Isaiah 11:1

The Jesse Tree is a beautiful anticipatory tradition for the great feast of Our Lord's Nativity. A visual representation of the family tree of Jesus, the Jesse Tree offers the family a yearly opportunity to spend time with the great cloud of witnesses that St. Paul spoke of in his epistle to the Hebrews. And since the Old Testament should never be read in isolation, but always in light of the New, the tradition of the Jesse Tree offers that view into the Old, always illuminated by the Light of Bethlehem.

This is the first in a series of weekly posts that will present 40 traditional Old Testament symbols and companion scripture readings for daily use. It is up to each family when to begin and end these readings and that decision will be based on each family's liturgical calendar. The following felt symbols are to be placed on a large tree-shaped felt banner, but the the symbols do not have to be limited to felt. They could be sculpted out of baking clay, cut out of paper, or simply sketched and colored by the child on ornament-sized pieces of paper. Some families like to hang the symbols on their Christmas Tree, while others put out a smaller tree for this purpose or use the branches trimmed from the bottom of their live tree.

If you are planning on taking a break from formal studies during this season, perhaps you may want to ask your child to keep a Jesse Tree main lesson book. After the scripture readings have been discussed, the child can draw a picture in her book and use part of the reading for copy work. For an older child, this season is the perfect time for an in-depth study of the Old Testament. Paidea Classics has published a beautiful volume of Our Young Folk's Josephus. Following Septuagint chronology, this retelling of the great historian Flavius Josephus' "The Antiquities of the Jews" and "The Jewish Wars" covers the history of Israel from the time of Abraham until the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. And for those who prefer audio form, Paidea is also offering the first volume on CD, read by the award-winning actor, Jim Hodges. This living book lends well to narration and is a beautiful complement to the daily Old Testament readings used with the Jesse Tree symbols.

Day 1
Creation of Universe
Sun
Genesis 1, 2: 1-4