Departing, utterly and completely, from my being overwhelmed by the hideous weight of the holidays and having done so before Christmas eve was over I have been reading a bit. I have been reading one of my favorite modern commentators on Christianity. He’s not well known even in Christian circles but he should be. Nevertheless Tony Woodlied published two articles recently that covered subjects on which I have been known to have an opinion. (And if you know me you know what that means!). One I will write another post about because it deserves treatment of it’s own and the other is the reason I am posting here.
First: some history on how we have always treated Christmas in the Potter household. I have never told my children there was a Santa Claus. We play the myth and even give gifts from Santa but we always stressed that it is just fantasy. The older children have even been known to correct adults on the subject. (I have no idea where they got the idea that they should correct people!) We do read Santa stories and enjoy the game but it has always been known to be fantasy. The oldest three are certain there is no Santa, the middle child is pretty sure there is despite what we have said, the three year old is unsure of may things including the reality of Santa and the youngest two are not of age to really believe in anything much.
Today I have decided to change how we deal with Santa. I did so after reading this article by Tony. Here’s a brief snippet:
I know Caleb and his brothers will figure out the Santa secret eventually, but I’m with Chesterton in resisting the elevation of science and reason to the exclusion of magic, of mystery, of faith. That’s why I’m not giving up on Santa without a fight. Not everything we believe, I explain to Caleb, can be proved (or disproved) by science. We believe in impossible things, and in unseen things, beginning with our own souls and working outward. It’s a delicate thing, preparing him to let go of Santa without simultaneously embracing the notion that only what can be detected by the five senses is real.
Tony hits me twice in this article with men I respect and turn to when the mysteries inherent in Christianty have my spinning: GK Chesterton and CS Lewis so he gets points on that alone. His reasoning behind not killing the myth for your children hit me like a brick. I had never thought about Santa from angle in which he is presented by Tony and I found myself in agreement. My lovely wife pointed out that we don’t tell the children that their imaginary friends (or in Sinead’s case “madge friends”) aren’t real. While Michelle doesn’t necessarily agree with me on the Santa decision she is willing to walk down this road with me (that alone is worth mentioning because she is always willing to go down whatever road I choose) (Or maybe she is just willing to give me enough rope to hang myself).
I have called the oldest three over and let them know we won’t be correcting the youngest four on the subject anymore and used the beautiful example of imaginary friends with them. They all agreed and next year there will be much Santa myth in the Potter household.
I told Michelle that if they asked that we wouldn’t lie. That we would answer completely honestly: Santa Claus is the anthropomorphization of the Christmas Spirit. Her only caveat was that if one of our children and pronounce “anthropomophization” that we would just go ahead and tell them the truth. Otherwise the simple explanation is that “Santa is the Spirit of Christmas” when they can’t grasp the whole concept of anthropomorphization. I think it’s a good caveat if only because I will get to hear at least four of my beautiful children pronounce anthropomorphization. 
As an aside and only related tangentially: Ever since I learned about the real Saint Nicholas – Bishop of Myra the scene Tony Mentions: Father Christmas appears in Narnia as the White Witch’s spell is breaking: “‘I’ve come at last,’” says Santa. “‘She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last.’” I don’t see a jolly fellow dressed in red with a belly full of jelly. I see the same grim determination that must have been on his face as he crossed a room in 325 to slap the heretic Arius across the face. I see that scene as a triumph and the man making that statement as a man who had never given up trying to get into Narnia after the White Witch cast he awful spell. I don’t know, it just seems right to me.
And the last aside is thus: Many of my friends either commented on my note publicly, sent me private messages, or called me. Normally this has little effect on the Mark-Potter-Patented-Christmas-Funk-That-May-Be-Worse-Than-Tom’s but this year some of your words actually made a difference. This year I was pulled back from the brink. Not soon enough to kill some of my wife’s joy (and for that I am sorry) during our attendance of her family’s Christmas Eve event but enough to bring me back from the brink prior to Christmas Eve being over. You may never all know who you are but I am grateful. I have wonderful friends and a wonderful family. Thank you all and I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas I know I did.
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