Well, first of all I was a little surprised. My wife doesn’t ask for my opinion on things theologically all that often, nor does she ask me for my opinion on how we care for our children. Most often we agree to disagree or she just ignores my theological ramblings. Just the fact she looked to me for my opinion made me concerned but it also raised my own concerns regarding our open invitation to our obese cookie eating friend who also drinks a beer or two on his way out the door every year. Perhaps we should revoke his pass? Maybe it is time for us to demythologize Christmas, as one of my dearest mentors and teacher advised me after I showed him a picture of my children sitting on Santa and Mrs Claus’ laps last night (yet, another red flag for me considering my great admiration for this brilliant theologian and mentor).
I have and continue to explore our options for this tradition
as objectively as possible. What I have found is that if I continue to pick at
that loose thread on my tacky Christmas sweater the whole thing is just going
to unravel into a ball of green, red, and white yarn on the floor. You see, the
whole thing is grounded in something less than “truly” Christian. Pope Gregory
hijacked the winter solstice along with other pagan holidays in order to
evangelize to those outside of the Christian faith. It gave them the
opportunity to find a bridge between their own traditions while finding a new
hope in Christ. Essentially Pope Gregory adopted traditions that can be truly
defined as pagan in order to permit a much more comfortable transition and
conversion to the Christian faith. This is one of the many reasons I refer to
our family Christmas tree as our pagan trophy case every year (again, this does
not please my wife). It’s all a hijacked tradition, from the date, to the
decorations, to the manner we give and receive gifts. So which parts should we
sanitize and whitewash out of our holiday season? It seems like the one we are
most frustrated with is ol’ Satan Claus. It reminds me of the old Dana Carvey
SNL Church Lady skit from years back when Carvey's character rearranged the spelling of Santa to spell Satan.
This all leads me to a realization. Perhaps we should take a
page out of Pope Gregory’s book? With the decrease in church attendance and the
constant complaints from church leaders concerning the draw away from
Christianity into the secular, today I wonder what our condemnation of the “fun
stuff” at Christmas says to those outside the doors of the sanctuary. I am
finding that both fundamentalist Christians and progressive Christians are
coming full circle and finding themselves of like mind regarding this condemnation
of Santa Claus. So there is certainly hope that agreement can finally be struck
somewhere I suppose, but here of all places?
Paul Tillich spent a great deal of time discussing the power
of symbol. Tillich believed that Jesus was in fact most powerful when held up
as an existential symbol for all and I agree with Tillich. Tillich spent a
great deal of time exploring the possibility that the Holy Spirit could work
through all things to create traces of God through symbol, drawing attention to
the truest of all symbols; Jesus the Christ. At one point Tillich claims that the
Spirit can manifest itself in the secular and the superstitious stating; “In
this way the Spiritual Presence has used antireligious media to transform not
only a secular culture but also the churches.” He implied this positively.
Tillich’s point aside let’s consider for a moment what Santa
actually does. He gives gifts to children without regard or credit for himself,
on the day set aside to recognize the birth of Christ. It would be safe to
assume that Santa Claus does this in honor of the birth of Christ thus Santa
Claus is associated with Christmas rather than St. Nicholas Day (December 6th)
in most American homes. We can claim this is due to the close relationship
between Odin worship in German pagan culture, Washington Irving’s imagination,
or even Coca Cola’s commercialization of the holiday. I would argue, however,
that in this tradition we find an example of selfless giving that transcends
the mythology and provides an example for children in a world increasingly
devoid of such examples that most certainly point to qualities of truly
Christian living. Within our American mythology and folklore there may be no
greater example of Christian living than in Jolly Ol’ St Nick himself. Take it
any way you want, if that is a sad commentary on the state of the church today
should we really be blaming Santa?
Might I make a suggestion? Let’s decorate our Christmas
trees (pagan trophy cases), hang our stockings above the fireplace (thank you
Washington Irving), hang our wreaths (circular greenery for the promise of the
cycle of life), and kiss under the mistletoe (sacred druidic plant). When we
are done why don’t we let Santa point to the door of the sanctuary for all our
secular, atheist, and agnostic brothers and sisters and tell them another
story. In the absence of a cross or Bible in many homes these symbols and signs
point to the doors of the worship space, as Tillich seems to suggest. Maybe
there they will enter those doors where we can share the gospel and show them
another way the Spirit is present in this world at Christmas.
Instead of tearing down and demythologizing why don’t we leave up these signs and show people exactly what the signs point to? As Christians we are called and sent to share the power of the story soaked in the irony of the incarnation. The true King is born into a bed of filth, a shell of flesh, to suffer an agonizing and brutal death for the sake of a creation groaning for God’s reversal. Christmas isn’t pacified by decorations and mythology; Christmas is pacified by our failure to lift up the story being pointed to.
But the day will come when our children will claim that St
Nick is no longer welcome. They will question his existence, perhaps even his
intentions. What if we used him for the very purpose he has always been there
for when that day comes? What if we used Santa to point to Christ? What if our
children, on that day, took the opportunity to take the reigns of that sled for
their sibling? What if they took the reigns of the sleigh for a hungry family
or classmate? Leaving an anonymous gift without the expectation of reward or
recognition as they sneak away whispering with you at their side “Merry
Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!” That, my friends, is the true meaning
of Santa and he learned from the best; Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God among
us.
Santa Claus, take it or leave it. It’s up to you. I would
suggest we be wary, however, of our self righteous claims upon those who
already feel alienated by both fundamentalist and progressive Christians alike.
Instead maybe we should let the Spirit work through any and all means that give
hope for a broken humanity that is in desperate need of the joy Christmas
brings and the celebration that indeed points to the One who first loved and
died for us.
The myth of Santa Claus gives Christians an opportunity to exercise the deeper meaning of belief. Without a doubt there is scant trace of the "historical Santa". The references to his historical roots are blended and shaped to formulate what is nothing more than a human holiday construct. It is in this undeniable myth that we can confront the difficulty many face concerning the historical Jesus. If we can use the myth of Santa to teach our children as they grow to wrestle with a deeper existential meaning than what surrounds the commercialized, fictionalized, characterization of Santa, perhaps we can wrestle with bigger questions. I hope my children can take the opportunity to reclaim Santa Clause and when they sit upon his lap I hope he can point to the Christ. Not pointing to the objective certainty of the historical figure but pointing to the certainty of being IN Christ. Belief is deeper than a historical meaning and it changes our world if we let the most powerful of all beliefs to change us.
Yours in Christ
The myth of Santa Claus gives Christians an opportunity to exercise the deeper meaning of belief. Without a doubt there is scant trace of the "historical Santa". The references to his historical roots are blended and shaped to formulate what is nothing more than a human holiday construct. It is in this undeniable myth that we can confront the difficulty many face concerning the historical Jesus. If we can use the myth of Santa to teach our children as they grow to wrestle with a deeper existential meaning than what surrounds the commercialized, fictionalized, characterization of Santa, perhaps we can wrestle with bigger questions. I hope my children can take the opportunity to reclaim Santa Clause and when they sit upon his lap I hope he can point to the Christ. Not pointing to the objective certainty of the historical figure but pointing to the certainty of being IN Christ. Belief is deeper than a historical meaning and it changes our world if we let the most powerful of all beliefs to change us.
Yours in Christ
Moore, Clement Clarke. The Night before Christmas.
First paper-over-board edition. New York: Harper, 2011.
Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1973.
