A Tree in a Church

My friend was indignant that Christmas decorations were placed inside an Orthodox Church as if they were a new separator between the altar and the faithful, namely, a tree, a nativity scene, and other things which she summed up by saying: “a tree in a Church!”. She showed me pictures. I do understand her indignation. This is foreign to our learning. We all know that, ecclesiastically, we receive the event of Jesus’ Nativity in the divine services, in the biblical text, the icon, and in His being born in the souls of the faithful. Literally, she said: “can a priest deviate from his tradition? People are free in their homes, on their balconies, and on the streets of their towns. No one, whoever it is, has the right to let the world enter the Church of God”. Silence consumed me. I did not contradict her to her face about what she said about people. I did not tell her, for instance, that I do not believe that there is anything that legitimizes our differentiating between the priests and the faithful. Her words were too powerful for one to interrupt them with a single word. May God have mercy on my friend who said: “they clothe the trees, while people are naked”.