The Christian Roots of Santa....

Does Santa come to your house?

He comes here. Sort of.

This is a really popular question in Christian circles. In fact, I would hazard a guess that many people have decided to take steps to counter the commercialization of Christmas, regardless of their faith point of view. It isn't really about what you can get from your highlighted the Toysrus flyer. But you know that. But is it all Santa's fault?

In fact, Santa as we know him is a fairly recent construct probably resulting from advertising of the Coca Cola Company and the famous poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.

Or is he?

Perhaps because I was raisedUkrainian Orth0dox catholic (note the small 'c'), or perhaps because of the magic it adds to childhood, I kind of like the St. Nicholas story/legend.

I found this here and it reflects both what I believe and what I have taught my son, and what I will tell my daughter:

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325......

Wow. Now that is a biography I can get behind. So maybe he looks more like this:

Or this:



Yes, folks. THAT is "Santa."


Both of my kids have grown up knowing that Santa's is really St. Nicholas. When they are younger yes, they think he lives in the North Pole. With elves. And a sleigh and flying reindeer.
(I know, I know.)

But when Josh, at 6.5 began to ask questions I did not do as was done to me and embellish. It just confuses kids about truth and lies and the reliability of their parents. I felt strongly convicted that I could NOT deliberately pull the wool over their eyes about this invisible benefactor and at the same time expect them to have a reasonable faith in God. At some point those chickens would come home to roost. My fear was that Santa = Toothfairy = Easter Bunny = God.

Um, no thanks.

I just said "What do you think?" And he said, "I think it is you and Daddy!" And I said, "Yup." (This happened the spring before he turned 7).

AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID?

"Wow, all that stuff was from YOU AND DADDY?!!!"
"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!"
"And the snow plow?" (Me: "Yup.")
"And the Mellnium Falcon?" (Me: "Yup.")

"WOW. Thanks mom."

I went on to explain to him what was explained to me by a teacher in 5th grade at the Ukrainian Orthodox grade school I attended. It was the first time that this big adult lie was put into a context that made any kind of sense to me. Now, the explanation relies a bit on unbiblical theology but just hear it out. She said:

St. Nicholas really existed. He was known for charity and kindness to children and the poor....

(We all knew the story. Half the kids were named Nicholas. The saint is a big deal in Eastern Europe.) ..... But now he is dead and in heaven with God. And, (here comes the unbiblical-but-harmless-in-my-opinion part) he is praying to God that people, especially parents will want to give gifts to each other to acknowledge the gift of Jesus Christ. BUT the whole dead and in heaven part is kind of scary and complicated for little kids, so the reason we developed this myth/legend is to make it understandable to the little kids.

Well didn't that make perfect sense to me. In fact, it redeemed all the confusion and frankly, the GUILT I felt knowing this was all an elaborate adult farce with which I was expected to play along.

So my son knew from 6.5. And do you know what? Christmas has still been a blast for him and he plays along, but out of fun and not out of fear he'll get coal or disappointed parents. He knows that he is absolutely forbidden to tell his sister or any other child that there is no such thing as Santa. (And the importance of the latter must be expressly understood....so please, please, ask your children who know to keep it to themselves!!)

So, is anything going to turn on kids having a couple of Christmases of fluffy, Disney-fied magic? I don't think so. And believe me, you can have both and keep Jesus Christ right at the centre. But only for so long....because there is a point it becomes a lie. A lie that might keep them from the Truth instead of a story that points them to Him.