Santa Is Very Real!

my favorite depiction of Santa from the Chronicles of Narnia

During this Christmas season I am reminded of an experience I had four years ago. It was the beginning of December and we were living with a family who adamantly objected to the idea of Santa Claus.

I and my family are Christian and try our best to adhere to what God would have us do, but I also am not threatened by Santa, in fact I think  its a fun tradition, not replacing the meaning for Christmas, as the birth of Jesus Christ, but facilitates the fun of the season.

In 2012 we moved to Arizona, moving in with a friend and his family. They did not feel the same as we did on the matter and were trying to replace "Santa" with "Jesus or the three wise men delivering the presents" which my wife and I agreed was dumb and sacrilegious. My oldest was eight years old at the time and I was told of a small plot on the part of my friends wife to tell her about Santa. Worried that my daughter would be told and become disillusioned outside of my control and care by someone else I decided to do it my self. After much reflection and prayer this what I told her "Sweetie, Santa is very real!"


"...but not like you think."

An early century Russian depiction
of st. Nicklaus

According to history a very real man, a bishop in Myra, Asia-Minor which is now Turkey, who we now know as St. Nicklaus was famous for his charity among the children and unfortunate of his locality. After his death, his legend grew and was carried abroad to the whole world with Fathers and Mothers and friends acting in his name, delivering treats and gifts into shoes and socks, and now, under trees. Traditionally honored on the anniversary of his death on December 6th, its no surprise that this Christ like Saints tradition was slowly joined with the celebration of the Christ child's birth, and his German name Sanka Nicklaus was changed to an English friendly "Santa Claus" 

A Santa sculpture I did last year

So how does this justify believing he is real? Because the spirit of his charitable actions from around 300 A.D. is very much alive, and every year each and every person in the world may don this age old persona to give gifts to those they love without admitting that they gave it. His name is now a form of amenity to those who choose to give gifts to the unfortunate and needy freely without praise, living up to the scriptural admonition to not to let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. When you write "From Santa" on that little tag on a gift what you are really saying is I love you

It doesn't matter if his story was changed from the bishop of Myra to a jolly fat man from the north, I love you. It doesn't matter if his name has been commercialized, I love you. It doesn't matter if it seem's that Santa has replaced the Savior as the focus of the season, I love you. And that love is very Christ like, and personal, so much so that my gift to you will be anonymous so that I will receive no praise or thanks for giving it, but will still see the joy it gives you.

 "...So yes..." I told my daughter "Santa is very real, and one day you will know the joy of signing his name on that tag and never tell that person the gift was from you, becoming Santa for a moment that will with stay with you forever. 

I told this tale to my Son when he turned eight, and I plan on telling tell it to my two younger daughters when they come of age and as a result, when a knock startled my family this evening and we found a large sack of gifts waiting on our door step, my son shouted out the door "Thank you Santa!! We love you too!"


Merry Christmas