The Joy of the Truth

As do many Catholic families, my wife and I are struggling a bit about whether or not to involve our children in the Santa Clause tradition. Our oldest daughter will be three in February, so she is just getting old enough to start hearing people say, “So, did Santa Clause visit your house this year?” We don’t really have a problem with the childhood fantasy part of the tradition. We’re just wondering if there is something better that we can offer our children.

What really got me thinking about it was watching a couple of Christmas specials with my children. The first show we watched was the modern movie Elf and the second was the Christmas classic, The Year Without a Santa Clause. Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with these shows in themselves. But what struck me as I watched them was the Santa mythos that they promote.

In this mythos, Santa represents the belief in the unreal. To use Santa’s own words (in Year Without a Santa Clause), “I believe in Santa Clause as much as I believe in any dream, and where will people find happiness if they lose their dreams?” Furthermore, Santa receives his power (much like Tinkerbell) by the belief of the people. This belief, along with a vague concept of “peace and goodwill,” are what constitute the “Christmas Spirit,” which is fundamentally the meaning of Christmas. Not only is Jesus not “the reason for the season,” God doesn’t even play a role. When Mrs. Clause in Year Without a Santa Clause “goes straight to the top” to straighten out an argument between “Freeze Miser” and “Heat Miser,” she goes to see Mother Nature.

If the Santa tradition was just a child’s story about a mysterious, jolly figure who leaves presents for good children in the middle of the night, I would have no problem joining in the fun. But the Santa mythos has become much more than that, or perhaps much less.

Like many Catholic families, my wife and I are considering the alternatives. I am leaning toward telling the story of Saint Nicholas of Myra (the original Santa Clause), and leaving a few mysterious gifts under the tree, leaving my children to wonder if Saint Nicholas had really visited them. We would then give Christmas presents in celebration of Jesus’ “birthday” – from us and from the family rather than from Santa. Then, when my children begin to figure out that the gifts from St. Nicholas are actually from us, we could much more easily explain about imitation of the saints and receiving the true gifts from Heaven. Hmmm . . .

It’s just a thought, but the more I think about it the more I’m warming to the idea. The Santa mythos is just too sterilized. Why not offer my children a real “myth” that naturally leads to the greatest Myth¹ of all?

End Notes

¹The original meaning of the word myth is a story that tells a culture’s foundational story — not necessarily a fictional story.

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