Does The Bell Still Ring For You?
So, does the bell still ring for you? Is Santa Claus "The Big Guy" ... or the big lie?
Santa Claus means many things to many people, and the decision whether or not to let one's children believe has been bandied back-and-forth for ages, and always will be. Some think it's a terrible thing, that it's "The Big Lie" and not at all worth deceiving your children and undermining their faith in you. In the end, each parent must choose for themselves, or between the two of them.
I chose to let my children believe ... I believed when I was a child, and while I was devastated when I found out the truth, to this day Christmas has a magical quality that goes beyond words or description for me, and it's this magical quality that later translated for me into the birth of a sacred child in a manger so long ago in Bethlehem ... the gift that God gave to me and other Christians in the form of the Baby Jesus and salvation.
My personal beliefs have changed - I guess you could say that I'm still "searching" - and I know many on FB are not Christians, but Christian or no, the story of Jesus' birth represents a very common but extraordinary blessing and belief that almost EVERYone shares, the belief in the joy, selflessness, and power of GIVING. Santa represents something different to each of us, but for me Santa is a symbol of that giving - the spirit of sacrifice and selflessness that the Nativity story does, and a time of year when people put others before themselves.
It would be nice if we treated every day like Christmas, and kept that same sense of charity and fellowship with us throughout the year, but the realities of life and the ways of this busy, modern world make it difficult to do so ... we humans are very imperfect creatures, and we can oft-times get so caught up in possessions and accomplishments, and the mundane rhythm of day-to-day living, that we tend forget what's truly important ... like friendship, love, sacrifice, forgiveness, giving, caring, and thoughtfulness.
In a word, OTHERS ... that's what all these things have in common, that's what Christmas, and Santa Claus, and presents, and stockings, and celebrations are all about ... the other people in our lives that mean something to us, the recognition of those who consider us special and their importance to our well-being, the temperance of reaching out to someone who may be hardened from life or bitter from past experience, the consideration of strangers who may be in need of nothing more than someone to TRULY care about them, and share a bit of their time.
It's ironic in a way, but to this day - every year on Christmas Eve, no matter where I am - I wait until it's very late, and I go outside and look up at the stars shining in the cold of a winter's night, (or perhaps, like this year, the full moon of an untimely warm spell), and I think of all the children in the world ... many of those children have dozens of presents under their Christmas tree, and are waiting for morning and a full stocking ... many do not even have a place they can call home ... some go to bed each night warm and content and with a full stomach ... some go to sleep cold and hungry, without parents or family of ANY kind ...
Some have more toys than they can even keep track of, and some have never had a single new toy to call their own their entire life. I think on those children and the excitement that many are feeling - the same excitement I felt as a child with more blessings than I could count, and the excitement many have never known - and ALL of those children, no matter where they are or what situation they're in, have one thing in common: The need to be LOVED - the need to know what it's like to have a full heart and those who care about them.
When I stand there in the cold under those amazing stars on Christmas Eve, it's that thought of that one thing that binds this whole world together, that makes Christmas and Santa Claus and Baby Jesus and that special night so magical: The need to be loved. The hardest heart and the coldest soul on the face of this planet have that same need, and it's the one truly magical thing that can transform ANY soul, no matter how empty.
Christmas is that time of year when that need - that magical, selfless, caring, transforming need - is put above everything else ... is placed upon the mantle for all to see ... is gently set as a star on the top of the tree to shine its light ... is wrapped in paper and decorated and given away ... is heard in the laughter of a child ... is seen in the twinkle of an elderly person's eye ... is felt as the fullness of a hot meal in the stomach of a homeless person ... is bathed in the warmth of a blanket or the hug of anothers embrace.
Sure, it may be far too short-lived, and it may be much too commercialized and used by some for monetary gain, and it may be hypocritical at times and over-done, but it's still Christmas, and it's still something special, and it still carries with it that one gift that we ALL need, no matter who we are or where we live or what our situation in life ... that one thing that we all need so desperately, that binds us together and defines our humanity with its truth and simplicity ...
The need to be loved ... and wanted, and cared about, and thought about, and needed. That's what makes Christmas so special ... that's what Santa Claus represents to me, that's what I learned from my parents when they decided to let me believe, that's what I wanted to pass on to my children in the form of a red suit and snowy white beard and bowl-full-of-jelly belly, as silly as it may seem ... and that's what makes Christmas magical for me to this day.
It's different for everyone, but for me, that's not a bad thing ... for me, it was worth the disappointment I first felt when I discovered there wasn't really reindeer landing on the roof of my house with a sleigh full of wonder, because I think I knew even THEN that it represented something much bigger, and something very real after all. So to this day I still embrace it, and I still feel the excitement of childhood at Christmas ... despite my age.
Besides, no one has yet to prove to me conclusively that the magic DOESN'T exist, and that there isn't really a Santa Claus, haha! So yes, the bell still rings for me, loud and long and clear ... and it always will. Does the bell still ring for you?
Merry Christmas!
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