After receiving
some various feedback against my last post I just want to clarify a few things
from MY perspective. I understand that
many people believe many different things and I have absolutely no problem with
that, in fact I support it. I refuse to
force my opinions and beliefs on to other people and that is one reason I am
incredibly fed up with Facebook and Twitter and debating deleting both
accounts- I am tired of being told that everything I think is completely wrong
because I don’t agree with one person.
So that being said, first I want to make sure that whoever reads this
knows that I am voicing MY thoughts from MY perspective and have never asked
for you to believe me, follow what I say, or care at all- I simply use this
blog as a way to get my thoughts out there, not directed at any people in
particular and if it makes one person think than great.
NOW, in
regard to the issues brought to my attention regarding my blog about bring
Christ and Santa back into Christmas.
There are two key things that you need to know about me before we go any
further- I am a Christian and celebrate Christmas from the Christian standpoint
AND I am 24 years old and believe 100% in the SPIRIT of Santa.
We never
really had a big Christmas in my family.
Sure, there was one year that I got a trumpet… my sister got a cell
phone another year… my other sister got some American Girl dolls… but they were
special years. In general my family
celebrates Christmas in what I have learned to be a very unique way- we never
focus on the gifts. Yes, we do give
gifts but the Santa gifts especially always had an important reminder with
them- we got three. Yes… only three
Santa gifts and I guess one from my parents.
Don’t go running away with your imagination though thinking these were
huge gifts- they were and still are a book, a piece of jewelry (never anything
super nice but always something beautiful, unique, and special each of us), and
something else. We got three gifts
because Jesus got three gifts. When we
bought gifts for each other we didn’t go overboard either- usually a CD or
stuffed animal for the sisters and I honestly don’t remember what we did for my
parents before we could go out on or own at which time we generally combined on
something nice for them. We never
focused on the gifts, but always on the meaning behind the three and more
importantly the togetherness. Christmas
morning has always been a special time for my family and probably one of the few
times my sisters and I can be in a room without fighting (mostly because
stockings had already been placed and that fight was big enough for two days
:D).
In addition
to the three gifts, my parents were always great at reminding us what we were
really celebrating- it wasn’t Santa coming to see us or the gifts we were given
(of which I can maybe tell you 3-4 today) but instead it was the birth of Jesus
Christ. Our house was full of gorgeous
nativity scenes, we never missed church during Advent or on Christmas Eve (I
blame Mom being Director of Christian Ed), and it was a continual discussion in
our house all through the season. That
being said, Santa was never absent from our home either.
Every year
we did and still do leave out cookies or some kind of snack for Santa. We still hang stockings. We still go to bed “early” so that Santa can
come (i.e. Mom and Dad can get to bed too lol).
Every Christmas morning we still stop what we are doing and listen to
our Santa letter- a letter that addresses each child individually and gives
advice, sometimes “scolds”, but always gives hope based on what has happened
over the past year and is to come. Apart
from Christmas, we went to the mall every year and got a Santa picture until
sometime when Felicity was in college. I
still try to go and do it.
That gives
you a brief background of how I see Christmas- as someone who always tries to
remember the Christian Christmas and celebrates with Santa, even at 24 years
old. Now- people brought up issues of
Christ and Santa coexisting and the negative aspects of Santa from a variety of
places and times. So here is the
requested response-
Yes, I full
heartedly believe that Christ and Santa can in fact coexist. Santa is not about getting, but about
giving. The man that Santa is based off
of, Saint Nicholas, was a very prominent Christian who set a wonderful example
for all of us to live by and one that follows the path laid out by Christ. There are those who have turned Santa into a
figure that represents the receiving of gifts and has only focused on what they
want from Santa, but believe it or not they seem to be few and far
between. You cannot tell me that people
are only focused on themselves and that Santa isn’t important anymore because I
have watched hundreds of children (and heard about thousands more) sit on Santa’s
lap when my Dad has gone to Ft. Bragg to sit as Santa- many of them asked for
something for themselves, but many more asked for something for a friend or
family member. Letters to Santa aren’t
always lists of things that kids want- I have talked to people who volunteered
with the post office and read these letters and read stories of kids who were in
trouble in school, wanted jobs for their parents, were worried about the world
and showed to be so much more self-less than we ever gave them credit for. Santa serves as an adult figure for many to
look to when they can’t talk to someone else.
As a child I knew that I could pray to God and bring my problems to God,
but I also saw that Santa was physical and I saw things on the news and TV of
Santa making people’s lives better.
There is nothing wrong with keeping both in my life. I have also had to sit down with kids who
just told a younger kid that Santa wasn’t real, explaining to them why the
younger kid was devastated and crying and the importance of keeping the secret
that Santa isn’t real. There is so much
good represented in Santa when you let go of the commercialism (which I will
admit is way out of hand and I am the first one to tell you I am against it-
even the coca-cola red suit).
There are
cultures and people that do not see Santa in this way and I will never fault
them. Something has happened that has
changed the outlook on Santa in many places and I may never understand it
because I have never lived in those situations.
However I also know that when I traveled to Ghana and Chiapas, Santa
was a bonding point. That being said,
there are many many places where Christians are persecuted and every fault that
can be thought of is brought to surface about God but does that mean that we
can’t celebrate our own faith?
I can sit
here and address everything on the lists that were sent to me, but I don’t
think it is necessary. Things can be
summed up like this- the true spirit of Santa focuses on giving to those in
need and following a path set forth by Jesus Christ, God’s son. I fully believe that this spirit is still
alive in many- I see it in the kids that come to see Santa, I see it in the men
who sit as Santa (and yes, I do know many of these men and they are incredibly
special and I would venture to say that 98% of them are truly living the spirit
of Santa year round), I see it in strangers that I pass at the mall. Further, I fully believe that this spirit of
Santa can and does co-exist with Christ and serves as another representation of
the Christian life. I also believe that
the spirit of both should not only be looked to and celebrated during the month
of Advent, but year round.
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