R: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Depending on your perspective, it has either destroyed faith, and made us numb to the beauty of supernaturally, or it has the potential to bring about the new evangelization. The thing I speak of is, of course, Santa Claus. The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. He gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best-known St. Nicholas stories is the time he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. 

I mean— that sounds ok… right? It started as a Christian thing, he seems like a cool guy, why not honor his memory by having NORAD track his non-existent flight around to world? At second glance, however, it is quite strange that on the day devoted to the birth of Jesus, we detract from the, already jubilant reason for festivities, and make up our own to excite our children and bring (false?) joy. Shouldn’t the birth of Christ be enough to make us joyful? Why do we need gifts, and a jolly old man in a red hat? There is also the issue that when children outgrow their belief in old St. Nick, they risk outgrowing their belief in the beautiful truth of Christ. When faith is misplaced, it is difficult to not become cynical about faith generally. There is also the issue for us that it is difficult to create Santa for one’s children without lying to them— something we all know we ought not do.

Yet, I am confident a large portion of the party grew up living the whimsical reality of Santa Claus and we seem to have remained faithful. What could be the harm in adding to the majesty of Christmas?