Why I Believe in Santa Claus
At the Christmas season there are always movies and stories featuring Santa Claus as a real person who inspires children and confounds the disbelieving adults. Most adults love the stories but place them in the same fantastic world as superheros, knights on white horses, and protagonists that never run out of bullets in a gun fight. When I tell people I believe in Santa Claus they always expect that I say it with a wink and a nod. Perhaps I do wink and nod, but that is because we don't believe in the same Santa and it would take too long to explain. One reason I believed in Santa so long as a child is that my parents told me that if you didn't believe Santa would come, he wouldn't. But that is more of a transitional reason.
I have often heard atheists use Santa as a club to knock God. Their argument is that God is same same figment of childish imagination and ignorance as Santa Claus, a being they are taught to believe in and which they eventually grow out of.
Hogwash! I'd like to turn this argument around. Why disbelieve in Santa because he isn't what we were initially taught? As a child I was taught that you couldn't do the arithmetic 3 minus 5 because 5 was bigger than 3. I didn't abandon my belief in math when I found out that there was such a thing as a negative number, nor did I accuse my teachers of lying. Children just get simplified versions of things until they are old enough to appreciate all of the true details.
So the real question to start with is “who is Santa Claus?” In the literal sense there was a person named Nicholas of Myra in the 4th century known as a secret gift giver. Over the years several other people and symbols have merged with Saint Nick into what we now call Santa Claus. Does Santa live at the North Pole with a bunch of elves and drive around in a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer, one of which has a glowing nose? No. In fact, I don't recall ever being told by my parents that those were more than stories. I once asked my parents if Santa would come down our chimney, to which they said they didn't know how Santa got in, but the implication was that a chimney wasn't required. I also remember being scolded one year for leaving the front door unlocked so Santa could get in. I just didn't realize how it all worked.
Let me go back to a religious analogy. When you pray for something, how do you expect God to answer? I suppose God could show up personally, but I think that is the narrow exception rather than the rule. The normal way God answers our prayers, especially the physical and tangible ones, is through people. A well known phrase from the Book of Mormon is “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17) Can you see where I'm going with this yet?
Now, when we pray for help with a flat tire, and someone stops to help, do we also thank God for the gift? “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.” (D&C 59:21) The religious are taught to look for the signs of God's anonymous benevolence. Part of the spirit of Christmas is gratitude, and Santa helps with that.
If you want to get someone a gift, but don't want them to feel indebted to you, what do you do? Give the gift anonymously as Santa of course! So, who is Santa? Santa Claus is the personification of anonymous gift giving. Santa is the one that accepts the blame for being too generous. Santa is the one that provides gifts when the joy of the recipient is more important than the giver receiving credit. Santa is many people, and anyone can be Santa's helper.
After Christmas. After the gifts are given. After gratitude expressed. After I've hugged my parents and told them I love them, and am grateful for their generosity. When I am alone, I kneel down and thank God for a wonderful family and friends, who do so much to provide for my wants and needs. And I thank God for the blessings He has given, as well as those He has given me through others. I still believe in Santa Claus. And I know who really gets the credit.
