Magnolia Leaves and Loropetalum

The year 2024 is coming to an end. No matter what has happened up to this point, as with every year, it is ending with festivities…Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve. Each celebration is one filled with colorful lights, decorated trees, bows and garland, gifts, family, friends. It is a highly festive and delightful time of the year; it is only as I write this am I aware of how a year starts and ends with festivities. Interestingly enough, I’ve never given it much thought. Maybe it’s because Christmas, like all other holidays was just another day for me when living on the plains of Alabama…just another day.

Because Christmas was just another day, I didn’t learn much about it at home, nor were there Christmas programs at the church we attended. I learned more about Christmas at school…especially in elementary school. We were read the story of Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the birth of Jesus, the Wise Men. There were special assemblies and theatrical plays all designed to celebrate the Christmas season. We were taught Christmas carols and secular Christmas songs as well. I remember once singing “I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. HA!! My mother didn’t punish me for singing it, but I definitely knew not to sing it again…at least not around her. It was also the time teachers would give gifts…something small to take home. Most times it would be fruit…an orange, apple and a thick peppermint cane. (I wonder what happened to those?). It was an exciting time because at Christmas there was an extended break from school.

I didn’t have to go to school, but I didn’t get to enjoy Christmas as those around me. Many times the small gift from my teacher was all there was or the discard toys from my mother’s employer. My mother believed Jesus, but she did not believe in celebrating Christmas. “There is no such thing as a Santa Claus and there will never be a Christmas tree in this house.” She made sure I knew that toys were bought by your mother and father. You can imagine the stir that caused in the neighborhood when I told as many as I could…’your momma and daddy bought that’. She also believed a Christmas tree took precedence over Jesus. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I think a lot of it had more to do with her not having the money to buy toys. But…all was not lost.

My mother as the “Help” introduced us to a dessert she made every Christmas for that family. She referred to it as a “Lane Cake”. No one around us had the cake and that made it special for us. Even years later when I mentioned having made it at Christmas, no one had heard of it. You might say it was not that common (even in the south) because it was known to be difficult to make. It was only when I returned to Alabama (and Google) I learned the origin of the cake and it’s official name, “Alabama Lane Cake”.

It appears the cake that was Christmas for us…a family tradition even to this day, was developed by Emma Rylander Lane in the 1890’s while living in Clayton, Alabama. The original recipe was published in “Some Good Things to Eat” in 1898. It is everything southern…including a strong dose of Bourbon. My mother omitted the Bourbon and used ‘fruit of vine’ (grape juice) instead. It is mentioned in Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and in former President Jimmy Carter’s “Christmas in Plains”. In May 2016, it was voted the official state cake of Alabama.

I didn’t make the cake this year, but rather took the opportunity to reflect on the reason for the season… Jesus. I’m afraid we are allowing more and more material things, just as what my mother saw in the Christmas Tree, to overshadow the real reason for Christmas. Think about it. Rarely, if ever, do we see or hear a mention of Jesus when going from place to place shopping for gifts and all that makes for what is now becoming Christmas. Rarely, if ever, if there a nativity scene displayed in public places…no longer politically correct. We have also moved away from addressing each other with “MERRY CHRISTMAS”…that too no longer politically correct. I venture to say a “Lane Cake” is not Christmas either. We should never forget Christmas is the time we commemorate the birth of Jesus, “The Lord Saves” as we see in the New Testament Scriptures and Immanuel “God with Us” as foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 ESV

I am writing this the last day of the year. The celebration of Christmas is over and many expensive gifts have been tossed aside, frowned on, returned and already forgotten…leaving many to think about what’s next. Whether you received a gift or not this Christmas, this is what I know…Jesus is God’s only begotten Son and he came to save us from sin…to give us new life…the greatest gift to ALL mankind. As this year ends and the new one looms large on the horizon, let us continue to embrace and celebrate Jesus, the gift that keeps on giving…”…I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” The Message

Vivian