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When it comes to the delicate matter of belief, there are creative ways to answer our children’s questions without taking the magic out of it all.
When my oldest daughter was about five, she asked whether Santa Claus was real. Her dad and I her told that Santa is real to those who believe.
Is love real? Is hope real? Is magic real? Is faith real? We can’t touch or see any of these things, but most of us do believe in at least a few of them. In some cases, we can feel them. In others, we see proof of them appearing in the physical world.
I, for one, still believe in Santa Claus, and always will.
I believe that Tibetan Lamas reincarnate with full recall of their previous lives. I believe in Knights in shining armor, and Princesses in towers. (As much as it irks my post-riot-grrl self to admit it!)
But I do believe. I believe in faeries, and faerie tales, pookas, ghosts, saints, and goblins. And I believe in Christmas miracles. Just like I believe in God,with It’s ineffability, and the many faces It wears.
Jitterbug Perfume by Tim Robbins has one of the best descriptions I’ve seen of the human relationship with deity. Basically, the premise is this: the gods depend upon our belief in them to survive. Our belief makes them real.
The power of belief is an important gift we must safeguard and instruct in our children. Without belief, we are cast adrift on an endless, meaningless sea. Belief offers a rudder when nothing else makes sense. Belief is what we build our lives upon.
I will never tell my kids that Santa Claus is not real, because I myself believe in Santa.
My oldest daughter is now 11. She started our Christmas festivities by saying she no longer believes in Santa. And then complained when she didn’t feel the Christmas Spirit flooding her as we trimmed the tree.
I talked to her about faith.
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Sometimes it has been hard to have faith that Santa will come. I admit it; I test The Spirit from time to time. A couple of years ago I made one such test. It was my first Christmas post-divorce. I had no one to give my Christmas list to. No one to tell what I hoped to find under the tree.
That year it was hard to find my belief in the Spirit of Christmas. I prayed to the universe to enforce my faith.
I wanted proof that Santa was still real. I wanted Indoor/outdoor, Ugg-like slippers. It was what I wanted.
It was a deal between me and God, and God knew exactly what was required to prove my faith.
I know, it’s kind of petty.
But come Christmas, I did get gifted a pair of slippers. My sister didn’t buy them for me, but for another family member. When they didn’t fit the growing girl, my sister asked me to take them instead – she didn’t want to go to the trouble of carrying them home on the plane and exchanging them.
I whispered a thank you to Santa, and reminded myself that sometimes God works in mysterious ways.
So does Santa. He still makes miracles occur, or at least the belief in him does. I didn’t know my sister was bringing slippers for the nieces. She didn’t know I wanted them, either. But he did. And he delivered.
Throughout my life I have seen miracles of Christmas faith occur, large and small.
Movies are built on the theme of the Christmas Miracle. But even off the screen, I have seen food banks fill, at least for one day, with more than enough to feed the local poor. I’ve seen people open their doors to strangers so they would have somewhere to be on Christmas morning. I’ve seen communities pull together and provide gifts for children who would have otherwise gone without.
To quote the words of song writer Red West, popularized by Elvis, “if every day could be just like christmas, what a wonderful world this would be.”
As a Mystic mama, I don’t feel like a liar, hypocrite, or as though I’m misleading my children by allowing them to believe in a power that makes thier child-lives a little more happy, a little more bountiful, a little more hopeful, a little more magical.
The Holiday spirit does exist. It’s palpable. It acts in the world. Call it the power of faith, or Jesus, or Santa Claus, or generosity. It’s an invocation of some sense of love for our fellow man.
Regardless of the name we give it, it sustains. It acts through each of us, bringing miracles to bear.
Kind of like God.
About the author:
LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, is a coach, trainer, and author. LaSara helps clients find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values. She teaches and coaches internationally. She’s wife to an outstanding man, and mom to two brilliant girls.
You can find out more about LaSara at http://www.lasarafirefox.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out her December coaching special – the VERY affordable Body, Mind, and Spirit Renewal program.
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