Earlier this month, I walked through a warm and wet jungle in Sri Lanka to see a project for long-term help for tsunami victims. The endlessly rocking ocean has already erased most of the evidence of the 2004 tsunami that destroyed hotels, homes, livelihoods and lives there just two Christmases ago. The tourist trade has not recovered, however, owing primarily to the continuing violence with the Tamil people in the north and east of this island, the pearl of the Indian Ocean. But the beachfront is beautiful with its light sands backed by warm, clear, turquoise-hued waters.

I also trekked across green rice paddy fields, through banana trees and coconut palms, to a more overgrown part of the jungle, a dark place shaded by a giant Bo tree. This is a tree that locals believe descended from the sapling branch imported from the actual tree under which Buddha received enlightenment. It is huge, with twisted branches hanging low and full of leaves and several trunks intertwined and snaking strangely around and upward. Arborists say this is typical of this type of tree.

In this swath of jungle, Sri Lankans had staked dozens of woven baskets around the tree. Colorful bits of cloth hung from ropes draped from its lower branches. While I am no Buddhist scholar, it was clear that this tree has great significance for local people, including great spiritual significance.

Without being a Christian or Christmas scholar, one could know as much about the Christmas tree, hung with colorful decorations and ropes of pearls, silver and gold. Or, perhaps only popcorn draped from its evergreen boughs.

Poya, a monthly full moon celebration for Buddhists, fell on December 8 this month. In December the celebration is called Unduvap, a day signifying the arrival of the Bo-tree sapling in Sri Lanka. Sources say a Buddhist brought it from India in the third century B.C. The oldest documented tree in the world is a majestic symbol for Buddhists.

After learning this, I couldn't help thinking of the Christian Christmas tree, which represents our own kind of Unduvap. We celebrate with a tree once a year. I don't think most Christians are clear about the tree's connection to the birth of Christ. Possibly a connection to his death, which some of us say was on a tree (a cross made of wood).

But the tree is clearly not the object of our worship. At least I hope that is clear. What is obvious is that with so many different ways to worship and so many different things, people and gods to worship, the case can be made that humans possess an innate desire to worship. Even though Buddha told his followers he was not God and should not be worshipped, Buddhists still gather at the Bo tree to do just that.

Why worship the tree instead of the man? Why worship the man instead of his Creator? Again, I'm no Buddhist scholar. As a student of human nature, however, I see that people must have something to venerate. Lots of people have worshipped trees. Speculation about the origins of the Christmas tree includes the idea that the tree was part of a Christianization of ancient pagan practices involving idolizing evergreens.

The tendency in modern America is to worship tradition rather than a tree. We like our Christmas trees. But we also like our Christmas gifts, decorations, feasts, songs and rituals.

Nowhere is this more noticeable than in churches. Any church leader who has attempted to change a song, a service order or placement of furniture understands how much the tradition has morphed into worship.

The difference between tradition and truth becomes clearer through travels. I advocate travel for everyone as a way to more fully understand of all things of one's native culture. Even something as short as a trip to a neighboring church can help to understand your own.

What is the sacred tree in your congregation? I hope that your worship at Christmas may be offered to God without the encumbrance of anything standing in the way. That's a prayer for every worship service, not just Christmas.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," (Luke 2:14, KJV.)