Upside Down Cats

Every year at this holiday time, I am reminded of the times in the past when I had the opportunity to talk with my older daycare children about Santa Claus. Usually the conversations occurred after they had already "found out the truth" and they honestly didn't know how to process the information or how to "fake it" around the little "still believers." Some kids have a hard time coming to terms with the truth - it completely blindsides them. In my own case, I came to a gradual awareness of the truth (followed by a year of denial, followed by a year of flat-out pretending I still believed because I was unsure about the alternative to believing). Suffice it to say, the truth about Santa did not blindside me.

In perpetuating the whole Santa story, first, we lie to them, then we ask them to lie with us. That's a heavy burden for those so young to reckon with. I always tried to console their feelings of betrayal by explaining that Santa was conjured up as a personification of all the good qualities that we as humans admire and long for in our lives: generosity, joy, justice (the good are rewarded and the bad get, well, coal in their proverbial stocking). These are traits we value most and which our hearts desire. We want to instill those noble traits in children and what better way than by having a jolly, bigger-than-life character demonstrate them once a year.

This is the point in this personal reflection where I can't help but pause and wonder...How ironic that we created a fictional character to embody the qualities that those who celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas attribute to him. Makes this philosophical person wonder about the whole "God" thing... Continue reading "God vs Santa: Who Wins the Hearts of Humanity?" »