When Santa was still living my world was simple and life was less complicated. I remember those days well. My dad worked and my mom stayed home. Most afternoons and weekends were spent playing with neighborhood kids.
Back then, if we kids had differences, we worked through the problem without shooting each other, and if I had gotten out of line at a friends house, I prayed his parents did not call mine, or else I would have had a serious problem upon returning home.
We still had the Christmas play which featured Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. The school held no concern about being strapped with a lawsuit for portraying the genuine reason for the season. Christmas break lasted two weeks and the expectation grew like a giant crescendo each day in class with lots of singing. Some of the songs were found in church hymnals and others were traditional seasonal tunes about a Rudolph, Santa, and Dashing Through The Snow.
The Christmas Tree was a big deal in our house. And every year presented a humorous story of going into the woods, cutting one down and bringing it home. For example, the year my dad forgot the saw and whacked a spruce with a butcher knife. When his arm grew tired, he dropped back a few steps and through a flying tackle on the thing. When that failed, he refused to be defeated and got in the old Ford, started the engine and ran over it. Then tied a rope to the bumper and jerked it out of the ground. (True Story.)
Both Charlie Brown and the Grinch were welcome in our house. I laid on the living room floor and watched every year as Charlie Brown learned he had not ruined Christmas and the Grinch discovered it could not be stolen.
Come to think about it...Christmas was hard to mess up. I can't remember a bad one. Some years were lean, while others were fat, but it always had a way of showing up... even during the difficult times. It was magical.
I am 52 years old and have just come through a very difficult year. I will not delve into the details, but suffice it to say, it has been a long one. I would say, I'll be glade when it's over, but...I would rather not rush Christmas. I am going to slow down, take a breath and worship the Babe in the Manger.
I'm also looking forward to Santa stopping by our house to leave something special for a couple of precious little boys named David Benjamin and Abram. You see...they are coming into that age where belief and imagination still has the power to make all things possible.
I remember the year my parents sat me down and told me something about Santa being a myth. Though I was not surprised, because I had my own suspicions, I remember it being a real downer. It was like something was lost. My dad told me it was part of growing up and now I could help him put together a Barbie House and some other stuff for my little sisters.
We all are endowed with memory. For some, memory is a place of precious keepsakes, and for others it is not a pleasant place to visit. If you happen to fall in to the later category, I'm sorry. My Christmas wish for you is that peace comes to your troubled spirit and healing takes place.
As for me, I am thankful for memories the Christmas season holds. They are precious keepsakes. And in the words of Longfellow, "Our today's and yesterdays are the blocks with which we build." When sifting through the building blocks of my yesterdays, I find there are many keepsakes that I'm still holding on to. Some of them are sitting around a Christmas Tree with my mom, dad and two sisters.
Others are from another time when I'm sitting around a Christmas Tree with my wife and our children, while living 5000 miles from the place we called home. In all of those memories The Nativity was present, and so was Santa.
I believe Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem of Judea two thousand years ago. I believe he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Though this has been one of those difficult years, I can testify it has been good. You see, good is never easy, but hard is always difficult. The difference in those two is often found in our attitude.
I also believe in Santa. He was always good to me, and still is, though the gifts he sends my way usually come through one of his many different Elf's.
I am off work today and sitting at Chaney's drinking coffee and rambling. I hope this finds you doing well on this first day of December. May The Lord bless you this Christmas season, and through the magic of imagination and belief, I hope Santa is very near.
Merry Christmas.
Cam
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