Yes, there is a Santa
Claus. There, I’ve said it.
He may not dress in a
red suit and drive a sleigh driven by magical reindeer. He may look more like Mommy and Daddy and
drive an econo car, but he exists. “He exists as certainly as love and
generosity and devotion exist.”
The world out there is
ugly and cruel, a nightmare where incomprehensible things happen in front of and
to our babies, so why not allow them a joyful childhood within the safety of
their homes, among the people who love and understand them the most? “There
would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this
existence.” How wonderful to listen to their giggles, or to watch their eyes
when they open their presents or see the feast you set before them.
We can argue religion
or commercialism, but who ultimately teaches that to our children? Who controls that within our homes?
My three grew up knowing
that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, yet they wanted to pretend and enjoy
the magic of Santa Claus as well. I saw them play with the baby Jesus statue in
the Nativity Set. They marched the Three Kings around the dining room looking
for the star. They’d kiss the baby and
tuck him in at night, yet they also watched every Christmas special on TV and
wrote letters to Santa, knowing full well they were writing them to me.
If the gift giving gets
out of hand, whose fault is it?
“Yes, Virginia, there
is a Santa Claus.” Allow your children the use of their imaginations. Believing in him is no different than playing
pirates or pretending to be a princess, getting lost in a book, or cheering for
our favorite sports team. Believing in him teaches them that being good and
working hard will be rewarded. Someone
loves children so much he wants to bring them joy.
“How dreary would be
the world if there would be no Santa Claus!” How dreary would be our world if
we didn’t have the laughter and the innocence of little children.
This is what we do with our girlies also. They have fun with the imagination of Santa while learning the real story of St Nicolas and, of course, about Jesus and his mission to bring true hope and grace into our world. :-) thanks for this post and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas with your little girls and dear husband.
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