“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” — Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.
I’ve never been much of a fan of Christmas, particularly Santa Claus. Jolly Olde Saint Nicholas actually was a big part of prompting me to question Christianity in my tender young years.
Bah, humbug.
The lyrics of the above popular holiday song made a profound impact on me when I was just about 8 years old. It felt strangely similar to what we young folks were being told about God and Jesus Christ, as far as someone possessing special powers and demanding that we behave or be punished.
I learned the truth about Santa, not from my parents, but when I was in a music class in third grade. I already had suspected it was all made up by grownups to force us to be of good behavior as the season was approaching.
The real problem was that when a music teacher let it slip out that Santa wasn’t the real deal, I began to ask serious questions about just about everything else that seemed to be magical, too fantastic to be true. I began to doubt magical thinking.
Blessed are those who haven’t seen, yet still believe?
So Santa was actually a mythical creature, a lie told to us by our parents and many in the advertising and marketing industry. The dominoes began to fall for me— the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc.
So was it the same for God and Jesus Christ? The other stories that seemed far fetched, but we were told they were true. God and Jesus Christ seemed to possess magical powers, just like Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. So I asked myself if God and Jesus were just as phony.
I tried to reason that there were too many grownups who held on to the magical stories from the Bible and continued to attend church and put money into the collection plate. So God and Jesus had to be the exceptions to this awful realization?
Remember, this is the tortured mind of an 8-year-old who didn’t take kindly to finding out he had been lied to by people he trusted for all of his youngest years.
For me, the seeds of doubt had been sown and it would be a struggle for many years to come.
I am certain that many reading this will dismiss me as a weird kid who represents only a tiny fraction of children all over the world. This is probably true.
However, I continue to question the wisdom of telling our children whimsical lies about things that likely are important to them. I try not to pass along my skepticism and cynicism to others, but I don’t hold with fibbing to kids about mythical creatures with special powers that watch everything they say and do, especially if it isn’t true.
“Now all of you children better be good. Just like all of you children should… ‘Cause Santa Claus is watching you… He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere.” — Ray Stevens
You never confessed if you believe in Jesus Christ now. God appreciates those who have the strength to confess thier belief. For by our words we are acquitted and condemned. Faith is not a easy task. But the race is not to the swift, but to those who continue. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. Great peace, strength and wisdom can be found in his words. We should all be grateful.
David
Neither God nor Jesus wrote a word of the Bible. Others penned the collection of tales that passed down from again to age . Interpreted from different languages and dialects of the region.
I know that maybe a moot point to you and others. It does shed doubt as to what really happened.
You nailed it Harry, that’s exactly why I call David” CINO ” he definitely doesn’t practice what he speaks!
In Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, we were warned when we were taken to the World of Make Believe.
Santa or no Santa does not matter any more. The holiday, or should I say Holyday, is shot. No matter if I was naughty or nice, I got underwear and socks for Christmas, or should I say Xmas. Christ is not in it any more. A commercial day you get lists of what young ones want. No thinking about what they need or much less what they deserve or earned. I remember a big meal with family uncles, aunts and cousins. When the dishes were done, card games for all ages broke out. If you don’t believe in some sort of God, I guess everything is free for the taking?
Mr Longstreet
I disagree with your last line. Believing in God or not has nothing to do with taking or getting anything for free. How many ” Believers” are so joyous to get their student loans forgiven, get help with food while in college or school?
Those that see and seize the opportunity to achieve “free” things always will. Neither God, Jesus ,or the Holy Spirit will ever dissuade them.
Mr Young
Looks like you have penned an article on a subject no one so far has any comment on.
I find that very interesting since this region has tended to be a stronghold for organized religion.
Since I also from childhood have had doubts. I do believe there were many of us as youngsters not believing everything we were being told. In those days young folk did not question their elders as to the validity of Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth fairy, God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.
We maybe in the minority and thankfully not “burned at the stake” because we may not believe.
Because my family hails from New Jersey, my mother always contended that Christmas was controlled by an enormous eastern syndicate. That being said, we celebrated Christmas with a tree and all the trimmings, but presents were few and clothing was a major part of them. Christ and church was not part of things.
Later on, when I was married and we had kids, Christ and church and all the secular trappings were part of the holiday celebrations. Of the kids, one is an atheist and the other is raising a liberal Christian family.
As for Santa and the other make-believe givers of joy for children, I never felt deceived. I accepted the wonder of it all, and as the oldest of the siblings I felt an obligation to perpetrate the wonder for the younger sibs as long as possible.
Life gets so jaded so quickly these days. I want my grandboys to know magic and the anticipation of things unexpected. They’ll know the truth someday. Let it be later rather than sooner.