A little boy asked this of Dumpling recently.She said, "Yes," which was a surprise, because she knows better.
See...she didn't understand the question as one of faith; she thought it was a history question. Since walking committedly with the Lord, we've not lied to the children about Santa Claus; we will not ascribe to him what belongs to God (omniscience, judgment, agelessness), but we don't want to demonize him either -- what I've read causes me to esteem him for exercising sacrificial deeds of care and compassion during his lifetime.
We have found a comfortable place in treating him as the historical figure that he is: understanding the embellished facts that have become our folklore, and then smiling politely when the younger girls figuratively put their fingers in their ears and sing, "la la la...I'm not listening to that!" whenever the delightful Santa myth is in danger of being refuted.
Our position is best represented by the "Kneeling Santa" ornament that we hang on our tree. It depicts Santa bowing the knee to a baby in a manger. But, the whole controversy about how to properly acknowledge Christmas (or in some Christian circles -- whether to acknowledge Christmas) got me to pondering...
Christmas with little children
Is red and green and white
With bows and bells and
Striped socks that make
For happy feet.
Christmas with little children
Is gingerbread houses
And cookies with icing --
Sprinkles and sugar
That looks like glass glitter.
Christmas with little children
Means decorating the tree
With toilet paper rolls
Dressed up as angels
With penciled-in features.
Christmas with little children
Is Mommy decked out in
Christmas best,
And accessorized with
Stretchy string necklaces
Strung up with colored foam candy
And tiny jingle bells.
Christmas with little children
Is all about the anticipation,
The excitement,
The colors and twinkling lights;
And giggles about Santa
(Whether you like it or not).
Christmas with little children
Is all about the whimsy
And delight,
Because truly,
They can't yet understand
The profound miracle of this birth
And the beauty of the death
That would win them Eternal Life.
Christmas with little children
Is drawing them toward Jesus,
Who is their God and wants to be their Lord;
While not chasing them away
With thoughts too big for them
And forgiveness that's still oversized.
Christmas with little children
Is letting go of the false piety,
And not crushing their innocence
By asking them to understand as do I --
Because I've been forgiven so much more
Than they have yet had need of.
Suffer not the little children
From being little children.
6 comments:
"Christmas with little children
Is letting go of the false piety,
And not crushing their innocence
By asking them to understand as do I --
Because I've been forgiven so much more
Than they have yet had need of.
Suffer not the little children
From being little children"----profound. I loved this...and it gave me lots to pray about and ponder. Thank you.-Heather
Interesting what you mentioned about Santa. We choose not to lie about him either and we tell them it is fun to pretend. So, we let them wave and "giggle" ;) and even sit on ones' lap (they usually are too afraid lol).
Great post!
This may get a little long because this has been a huge delemma for me, actually. When I was little, one of my grandmothers talked my parents into not letting me think Santa was real...and I felt so let-down not being able to believe for awhile.
Yet...I also heard the idea that to tell children that Santa is real...confuses them when they find out he really isn't- and could make them then wonder if God was real...
And so I was determined to try to walk that thin line...never actually saying out and out that he was real, but not telling them constantly that Santa's not real, thereby eliminating any chance of fantasy for awhile.
I know some may have firm convictions on either side...but as you can see, it's been a tough one for me. Currently both children seem to believe in Santa, even my 7 yr old. But I make sure we stress the true meaning...we're doing Avent candles this year, among many other Christ-centered things.
As my seven yr old put it recently...
"Santa must believe in Jesus...after all- that's what Christmas is all about!"
Wonderful post, I came from everyday mommys. Totally agree, love the little poem. I tried to tell our 5 year old the truth but she obviously didn't hear or understand what I was saying, so we are still doing Santa. She knows Jesus loves her and that He is God (not Santa). I don't remember at what point I realised Santa wasn't real but it didn't damage my belief in God one iota.
I read somewhere a mother describing Santa Claus as Satan's Claws, well now that sounds a little superstitious to me. Oh well it takes all sorts, we all see in a glass darkly. But I reckon when we stand before our Lord in the last day He will ask of us, do you love Me, do you love your neighbour? Not - did you do Santa?
Thanks for this post, loved it.
I have a Santa story. We too never told our kids Santa was real, as only God can do the things many believe Santa can. We told them he is make-believe. We do have Santa figures in the house, that are treated like our Mickey Mouse figures, etc. One day when my daughter was 2, we were walking into a Hallmark shop and there was a Santa on the sidewalk. My normally shy child yells, "See Mommy I told you he's real."
Would you mind if I used this in a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) newsletter that I publish? If you're ok with it, would you please just email me your full name so I can give you credit? If not, I understand.
Thanks,
Stephanie Green
chefsteph@sbcglobal.net
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