I Believe In Santa Claus

So I watched the Polar Express the other night with the kids. Good movie. A little odd, but overall good. I was struck at the end by the whole "hearing the bells" thing. If you haven't seen the movie and you don't want me to ruin it for you, skip the rest of this paragraph and pick up later on. In the movie you could only hear Santa's bells if you believed in him. When he brought the bell back, only he and his sister could hear; his parents were deaf to its tones. After time, even his sister couldn't hear it because she had lost the belief.

All right, end of spoiler, so I'll start a new paragraph. In this movie (and countless others like it) we're led to feel that believing in Santa Claus is a noble thing, something worthwhile and, to a point, selfless. Why is it that believing that one man could produce and deliver toys to all the children of the world in one night is a good thing? Why do we care? Yeah, it's a great story for the kids, but why has it lasted all these years? I think the reason is not the man or his actions, but the symbol. What does Santa Claus stand for?

To address this question, I go straight to an authority; the 1947 classic, Miracle on 34th Street. If you haven't seen this movie, where on earth have you been? Go watch it. In this movie, Santa Claus gets put on trial, basically for being crazy. As the movie progresses, it comes out that Santa Claus is a representative of all that's good in this world. See, in Santa, we have a man who gives his life to make others happy. We have a man who's given his life in a completely selfless manner. He is pure and selfless and full of joy. As Fred Gailey puts it, "It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles." Santa Claus represents that better part of ourselves, the part of giving, of charity, of love and kindness. It's that part of us that too often gets lost in the shuffle while we're making a buck and looking out for me and mine. To quote Kris Kringle, "For the past 50 years or so I've been getting more and more worried about Christmas. Seems we're all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle." So this Christmas, don't forget Christmas. Don't forget it's not about the new iPod or all the presents under the tree. And if you've got the Christmas Spirit, don't lose it in a month when you move on to something else.

So, from our house to yours, Merry Christmas. And may the Spirit of Christmas follow you throughout the year.