Santa Claus

“So what do you think of Santa Claus?” my friend asked me.

I looked at him, confused. Bob and I were walking down an icy dirt road in the middle of January. For a reason I’ve never quite understood my large, bearlike friend enjoys being outside on days when even water cannot assume a liquid form. As for myself, I’ve always been a firm believer in the joys of the great indoors. How he convinced me to venture outside on such a cold day I’ll never understand.

“Santa Claus?” I asked. “Hmmm. Well, for starters, he definitely needs to loose weight. All those extra pounds can’t be good for his heart.”

“C’mon, be serious,” Bob replied. “Is he a good thing or a bad thing?”

“What do you think?” I asked.

“Well, he seems to have more character than Darth Vader, at least,” he replied. “He rewards good kids with presents and bad kids with coal. He appears on Christmas Day to give good gifts to mankind. You’ve got to admit he’s got a lot going for him.”

“All true,” I replied. “But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? Santa is more than just elves and presents and nasal-challenged reindeer. There’s a dark side to Saint Nicholas.”

“I figured,” Bob replied. “What’s the trouble?”

“Well, think about it,” I said. “Have you ever watched any of those TV Christmas specials?”

“Sure,” he replied, as we crunched through the snow. “Some evil force is threatening Christmas, and an enterprising hero has to find a way to save it.”

“How is Christmas put in danger?” I asked. “I mean, after all, how can you possibly threaten a holiday? Is an entire 24-hour period going to be struck from existence, never to be seen again?”

“That’s not a bad plot,” he said thoughtfully. “No, I think generally someone is trying to stop Santa from delivering presents.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Christmas has been equated with Santa Claus delivering presents. That’s all it is for millions of people ” just a day for receiving gifts. Not giving them, even ” just receiving them.”

“But isn’t that what the day is about?” Bob asked. “Not Santa, exactly, but it is the day that Jesus became man. Even the angels said something about good tidings, and giving gifts to men, and stuff.”

“True,” I replied. “Yet, of all those Christmas specials you’ve seen, how many even mention the real meaning of Christmas?”

“I think the Charlie Brown one touches on it,” Bob replied. “I’m pretty sure the kid with the blanket quotes from Luke.”

“Ok,” I said. “So you’ve got one that briefly mentions Christ. Out of how many?”

“A lot,” my friend admitted.

“Why do you think the world celebrates Christmas?” I asked. “Do you really think they’re praising God for offering His Son as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind?”

“Probably not,” he said. “But, thanks to Santa Claus, at least they are celebrating Christmas.”

“They’re celebrating something,” I said, “but I don’t think it’s Christmas. Maybe credit-card-debt day. But not Christmas.”

“It’s better than nothing,” he replied.

“But stop and think,” I said. “If there was no Santa Claus, or reindeer, or dancing snowmen, if there was only Christ and a manger in Bethlehem, isn’t it possible that people would actually celebrate Christmas, instead of Santa Claus Day?”

My friend thought a moment. “I just don’t know. They may not celebrate it at all,” he said.

“At least those who did would be rejoicing over something that’s real,” I replied.