Does Santa Exist?
abracad, · Categories: christmas, spiritualityWhen I was a kid I'd go to bed full of excitement on Christmas Eve. I'd wake up the following morning to find a pile of toys and other gifts where none had been the previous night. The magic, I was told, was all down to some kindly old guy who lived at the north pole and every year would ride his reindeer-driven sleigh across the skies delivering his presents to all the kids around the world who'd behaved well enough to deserve them.
Then one day I "learned" Father Christmas didn't really exist, and the mysterious gifts ceased. I'd entered the cynical world of adults where magic doesn't happen, and people fight wars and do other bad stuff that kids aren't born knowing about.
But is what I "learned" really right? After all, in many ways the child really can teach the man. Nobody's ever seen Santa, so he can't exist - right? Then again, nobody's ever seen electricity, radio waves, black holes...
Santa's mission is to give without the hope of receiving. It's also to encourage kids to believe that miracles sometimes do happen.
Well on count 1, at this time of year there's a hell of a lot of giving without thought for what you'll get. (Yeah, OK, I know a lot of giving is done for cynical reasons, because it's expected, because the giver does want something back etc, but take all that away and there's still a great deal of selflessness going on.)
And on count 2, miracles can and do happen. Not often, but often enough to make them real. And one of the most important factors in being the recipient of one of these events... the simple power of belief. All you have to do is ask, and it shall be given. Or rather - the power you need to make it happen - will be given.
So, as I'm told by those that "know", Santa doesn't exist - but his Spirit sure as hell does.
And who was it left my presents when I was a kid?
See also:
Filed in: christmas, spirituality
Leave a Reply