I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I knew Santa wasn’t real. I was older than 8 I think because I remember living in the house on 13th street when mom said if we don’t believe we don’t get presents. So we would say we believed in Santa and get presents still from him. Now looking back and meditating on my feelings of Christmas I think it is the spirit of Christmas that I believe in, the spirit of giving and charity. Have you stopped to think about Santa and how he is like Christ in some ways? He is giving and trying to cheer people and care for the little ones. Christ was always giving of his time and trying to lift people up. Christ loved children and took time for them. Santa wears a red and white suit, why those colors? Red is symbolic of Christ’s blood and his atonement and the white represents the light of the world which is Jesus Christ.
Nowadays it is easy to feel like Santa is nothing more than a symbol of a commercialized Christmas and a way to con children into being good boys and girls. But I think if you get past that and don’t let that into your heart you will feel the magic of Christmas that comes from charity. The spirit of giving of ourselves and I am not referring to material things. Presents are nice and sometimes useful but the memories of quality time, a batch of homemade treats and a helping hand are for more precious.
Maybe it was silly of my mom to say that we needed to believe in Santa to get any presents growing up but I feel it left an impression on me more about why I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in good things and that there was something magical.
Nowadays it is easy to feel like Santa is nothing more than a symbol of a commercialized Christmas and a way to con children into being good boys and girls. But I think if you get past that and don’t let that into your heart you will feel the magic of Christmas that comes from charity. The spirit of giving of ourselves and I am not referring to material things. Presents are nice and sometimes useful but the memories of quality time, a batch of homemade treats and a helping hand are for more precious.
Maybe it was silly of my mom to say that we needed to believe in Santa to get any presents growing up but I feel it left an impression on me more about why I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe in good things and that there was something magical.
I am so glad that you figured it out! For Santa represents the same thing to me. The little musical statue of Santa kneeling at the manger is such a good reminder of that. The fact that the statue is simple and unadorned makes it even more precious to me. Not to mention how I received the unique statue. Santa is Christlike Love personified as long as we keep our hearts in the right place.
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