Santa Who?

I swear to you that I don’t set out to be different. I don’t wake up in the morning and think, “Gee, how can I make myself stand out today. I was hoping people would look at me funny.” Regardless, I have found that this holiday season in particular has made me feel alone in a world I don’t understand. I will try to explain…

            Here are three things about me that you will need to know for this story. First, I am a Christian. Second, I am a private person. Third, I have a 2-year-old son. Your need to know this information will hopefully make sense by the time you’re done reading.

            I am a Christian. This means I believe in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe he lived on this earth, having been sent by his Father, Our God In Heaven. I believe that he died as an eternal sacrifice for my sins and that I am forgiven because of this sacrifice. This makes me feel pretty strongly about his birthday, which I happen to be celebrating tomorrow. However, I’m not celebrating by telling my son a story about a man that will be coming to our house while we are asleep in order to bring us presents. I’m celebrating how I would celebrate any birthday. Family, food, desserts, and gifts. Except, instead of giving Jesus gifts (he’s impossible to buy for), we give each other gifts to acknowledge our appreciation and love for one another.

            I am a private person. The words I just wrote may surprise some of the people that know me. That would be because I choose not to shout them from the rooftops. But the bottom line is that I’ve always felt this way. Way before I ever had plans to have children, I knew what Christmas was about and how I would choose to celebrate it. However, I never tried to convince anyone that I was somehow right, and they were somehow wrong. I feel strongly against lying to children. I don’t play tricks, I don’t prank, and I don’t lie, even for “jokes”. How then could I look a child in the face and work so hard to convince him something is true, when it’s not? And how could I then expect that child to believe me when I tell him about Jesus and God…other things that he can’t see but is expected to take “on faith”? Given this conundrum, I made a personal decision to just leave Santa out of Christmas. Again, this occurred long ago. It’s only becoming an issue now because of my beautiful son.

          

           I have a 2-year-old. This means that every person that talks to him in the month of December asks him about Santa. And when he doesn’t respond the way he’s expected to, they give me that side glance like, “He doesn't know Santa?” My response? Smile and shrug. However, my inside voice says, “Hey, don't look at me like I'm nuts just because I’ve decided that the Santa hubbub is a distraction from what I actually wish my child to understand about the season.  But that private person prevails and I just breathe…smile…shrug.

            So, here’s my declaration to this cultural phenomenon. I will never tell you how I wish to celebrate Christmas as loudly as you tell me how you think I should celebrate Christmas. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel strongly about it. And I won’t be swayed. This means everything to me. My Child. My God. My Savior. This is Christmas.

Happy Birthday, Jesus.