“Grandma, will you tell Brenna that Santa Clause isn’t real!” What?!!! I thought to myself. May I say in two seconds, I had at least 4 different answers to this timely question spinning in my mind. This is a job for super-grandma, Lord help me!, because Brenna is not my granddaughter, although she is my grandsons’ cousin on the other side. What did she know, what had been talked about, what would her parents want me to say, wow! I do believe that “honesty is the best policy,” at least you don’t have to remember what you said the first time to cover that lie.
The girls are both 8 and had been in the other room writing a Christmas story. I knew this and thought it was a wonderful way to pass the time, get the creative juices rolling and I was looking forward to reading their thoughts. I was thinking Bible story, little did I know it was not. The character was a young man who didn’t believe in Santa Clause, but by the end of the story was giving back as the original St. Nicholas did. Now I know where the question came from, but….here goes.
I asked her if she knew the story of St. Nicholas, she is an avid reader, so I hoped the answer was yes and it was. She knew that St. Nicholas lived many years ago and was known for helping the needy. Of course, I quickly interjected that Christmas was celebrating Jesus’ birthday and she knew that. Because I didn’t need to explain that any further, I continued my quest to not lie, let her down easy and still respect and appreciate the giving season.
So, the gentlemen, dressed as Santa, are portraying St. Nicholas, because he died over 1700 years ago and they are just bringing the message to the people like St. Nicholas started—the message of giving to the needy and to share our blessings with others. (Man, that is all wishful thinking in our world today, but I believe that it was that way in the beginning). Anyway, I told her that there are many Santas, because one can’t be in all the different places at once and not everyone has a chimney. The thought of delivering presents through the wall or coming in the back door is just way to scary for some children, and me. It was about this time that my grandson spoke up and said, “Santa is like the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy, none of them are real, but you can’t tell your sisters!” Love him! Ok, with the year of seasonal characters taken care of, by the way, she took it all really well (I think she kind of knew, anyway), they headed to the other room to finish the story.
Thank you Father God, for not wearing a red and white suit, but you do listen to our every want and need though prayer, because You are everywhere. Thank you Jesus, for coming as a baby, such a simply precious gift, but dying for my sins so that I can live with You some day in Heaven (the greatest gift of all). Thank you Holy Spirit, for living in me. You don’t come through a wall or door, but into my heart, so show me the way of LOVE, which is what St. Nicholas wanted us to know over 1700 years ago.