Terry: Belief in Santa gives faith in things unseen

I still believe in Santa Claus. How about you?

I even have a red and green baseball cap with a stocking crown proclaiming the fact somewhere.

As kids we heard the story of the birth of Jesus in a manger and we were also told the story of Santa Claus. Both took a lot of imagination to embrace as a child.

The iconic Clement Clarke Moore Santa Claus was alive and real in my childhood home. My mother worked hard to make sure her kids believed in Santa. It was a big deal. She worked hard, schemed, shopped carefully and made a lot of Christmas clothes to make sure we had a big Santa Claus.

She told us that Santa Claus was all about the “Spirit of Christmas” and if we quit believing in that notion, Santa would stop coming to our house.

If one of our three siblings questioned how Santa could do everything he was supposed to do the other two would most likely be there to bring the questioning child back in line. After all, if he quit stopping at our house we were all going to be affected. Chalk the magic of Santa Claus up to the “Spirit of Christmas” and keep on believing.

We had some big Christmases over the years. Somehow Santa got a lot accomplished, even delivering a lot of items out of the Sears and Wards Wish Books. We all went on into adulthood believing Santa would come and he never disappointed.

One of the best things he ever left us with was faith. That is the ability to believe in things unseen. Faith is a good thing when it comes to the real Christmas story.

I didn’t get to personally see baby Jesus resting in the straw of a manger. I wasn’t there to witness when a young Jesus amazed people in the temple with his understanding of Scripture. I didn’t receive the security his followers did as he calmed stormy waters. I wasn’t required to watch his suffering as he was beaten, mocked and crucified. And I wasn’t there to see him after he rose from the dead.

I have to believe Jesus’ story on faith. His story sheds light in a dark world. His birth gives us hope in a hopeless world.

Thank you, Mom, for teaching us the value of faith and making sure we knew Christmas was about more than Santa Claus.

Thank you Jesus for saving a lost and wretched humanity.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and may peace prevail on Earth.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]