Yes, There is a Santa Claus… if you Choose

THERE IS MORE GOOD NEWS IN THE WORLD THAN BAD 

  Glancing at his new email messages, Brad noticed there was a new message about a date for the condo Christmas party. “That sounds like fun”, he mused. “We do not see our fellow condo owners very much and most of our neighbours are fun to talk with.” He checked his calendar, “Oh darn” he said. “It is at the same time as our granddaughter’s Christmas concert. Well, maybe we can go to the condo party for a while after the concert.” Looking further on his calendar he noticed their daughter, who lived in Montreal, was having her Christmas Choir performance and screening in 10 days time, and a date was written in for the community singing in the local park.  

His body started to tighten up, and became even tighter as he realized Christmas was just around the corner, and they had no tree or decorations up, no presents bought, and had not chosen which family member would host Christmas dinner, a fun time except for the cooking of the turkey and the cleaning up. Christmas was always a very busy time, as all of these activities, plus the year end things he had to do in his business, made life very stressful. 

As the time marched on towards Dec 25, the Christmas music had started on the radio, there were uncountable promos on his computer about buying this or that. These were aimed at everyone, including those who could not afford to buy much if anything, making them feel inadequate, or if they did buy, leaving them in debt, sometimes with no way to pay it off. There were a surfeit of requests to give to good causes and plenty of stories about the homeless and lonely. Fortunately these were mixed in with positive up beat Christmas stories. The Middle East stories in the media were a mix of Gaza and the obscene wealth of the oil states…a far cry from the traditional middle east stories they used to hear about a child being born in a stable.

Brad was beginning to feel worse and worse, the result of a mix of the crush of so much to do, and the emotion caused by the guilt and conflict between those who had so little and those who had so much. While he had bought a few presents for his children and grandchildren he was asking himself, is that enough for them? Did I spend an equal amount on each child, and will they like their presents? This mix of feelings had been occurring at this time for the past 3-4 years. In short he felt down, conflicted, and hollow.

He finally mentioned all of this to his wife Hilary. Unsurprisingly she felt the same way. “Christmas has become so pressurized, confusing, and commercialized, with less fun and joy, and with little meaning.” It had become a time they had to just get through. Brad nodded in agreement. They both agreed they should talk about it. Several nights later they put on a fire, poured themselves a glass of wine, and started talking. 

They talked about the Christmases of their youth and their children. “When we were young we had snow. We always had a white Christmas and played outside for hours, oblivious of what our parents were doing.” They talked about traditions, making gingerbread houses, about visiting Santa Claus, sneaking downstairs to get an early look at their presents, about the religious slant of Christmas, of the biblical stories, the Churches, Christmas pageants. They laughed at the remembrance of their children dressing up as donkeys, or wise men, or shepherds. There were other stories too like Scrooge, and a story from way back in 1897 about a young 8 year old girl who wrote a New York paper asking them ‘is Santa Claus real?’ The reply came back with a very touching, ever relevant reply: “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa.”

They also remembered about bringing each other home for the first time to meet their parents. They both smiled remembering this. “I was so nervous” said Hilary. “Me too” said Brad.

Back in those days we lived in a predominantly white Christian society and the Christian story was the only religious story told. Now there are people living here from so many parts of the world. They all have their own stories and traditions they follow at this time of the year. The net result is that it is a time for celebration and holiday for most everyone.  

We have learned since our youth, many of the Christian stories and practices were not unique. They came from pagan practices and others who celebrated the winter solstice, to offset the coldest and darkest time of the year with celebrations and revelry. The traditions and practices are different for each ethnic and religious group, for instance, the Jewish people do not celebrate the birth of Jesus, though they do look upon this time of year as a holiday. Some put up trees, sing, have special foods and celebrate. Rosh Hasanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in September. The Hindus have Diwali. It is a celebration of light, and of GOOD winning over evil. Diwali is held in October. The Muslims view Christmas as a holiday, but not a religious one, however they often exchange gifts and focus on togetherness with other peoples. The Indigenous Peoples often have a mix of traditional spiritual ceremonies, sometimes blended with Christian practices, as well as gift giving. 

They both believed these celebrations made for a richer and more diversified set of happenings. Giving everyone an opportunity to learn more about each other. This is a good thing! Combined with our more secular world, ever changing technology, faster pace, increased secularization and commercialization these practices are what we have. 

Brad got up from his chair, put another log on the fire and poured he and Hilary another glass of wine. “Well what do we do to make Christmas meaningful and fun?” he asked. “First off” said Hilary, “talking about it is a good start.” She continued “For me there is too much going on. Let’s cut back on the things we do and focus on what is meaningful for us. While we love our friends, many are in the same boat…too busy. Let’s postpone seeing them until the New Year when we can spend more time with them. As for presents, while it is too late now for this year to do anything, I heard the other day that some people are only giving second hand items or making their own presents, and some are focusing on giving each other experiences. Let’s figure this out over the next year, but at least in our family let’s draw names and limit the cost of any one present.”  “I like that” said Brad. 

He continued, “for me the most important thing is being with our family. Let’s focus on them in a joyful and meaningful way.” Hilary agreed. “I love the music around Christmas” said Hilary. “Let’s do the singing, the Christmas concerts, and carol singing, including the carol service the week before Christmas. This also keeps some of the Christmas story in place.” “As for being meaningful, I love the message from ‘Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus,” said Brad.

“Let’s adopt the theme and message of the story as a way to play out this Christmas and into the new year. It would be good if the children and grandchildren heard it too.”  

Brad got up, picked up his cell phone and put on the YouTube version of  ‘Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus’. The only lights on were from the Christmas tree and the flickering fire.   

They sat quietly listening and reflecting. The music stopped, the reflecting did not.

 Enjoy the Christmas season and may 2026 be a meaningful and joyful one for you and your family.

Till next year,

 Chris Snyder, climate optimist

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