Posted by
Gerald L. Myking on Thursday, December 25, 2008 9:36:12 AM
I am not a Christian even though I was raised as one. I am amused by the attacks on Santa Claus and Christmas. In particular the attacks by the atheists. I do believe they are given too much attention. The number of atheists who complain is very very small. If I could receive as much attention as they do I would be rich.
During the 1980's I went through a so called mid life crisis. I had a lot of hang ups and was deterimined to get rid of them. One of them was a hatred for Christmas. So what did I do to get over it? I became an actor in the community theater. I played 3 significant characters in, you guessed it, A Christmas Carol.
Then I was Santa Claus himself for handicapped children in the local school district. It was a very moving experience. The one incident that stuck with me was when they put a 17 year old on my lap. A boy who suffered severe brain damage as a baby when his biological father nearly beat him to death. He was pretty much an infant despite his age. As he sat on my lap he began to get very excited and I could feel a strong vibration coming through his body, he knew. Some how some way he knew who Santa Claus was. When I was finished with this class I made my exit and got caught by a bunch of 2nd graders. I felt like a rock star. As the group stood in front of me all excited one young boy piped up. "Your not really Santa, your just one of his helpers, right. " "This is true, I said as I placed my hands on my heart, but in here the spirit of Santa Claus lives." They had all been leaning towards me but upon my response, they all leaned backwards in awe. They then burst out in cheers and clapping as I headed for the door, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas."
If there was ever a Mrs. Claus, she was my mother. She spent the entire year Christmas shopping for bargains. She had one room we referred to as the gift room. By November it was so full we often were unable to close the door. Every one she knew received a gift. My mothers house at Christmas was quite a site with 40 to 70 people celebrating. If anyone in the family knew some one who had no place to go Christmas eve, they brought them with and they often received a gift even though they hardly knew anyone. The look on these people was priceless.
One incident with my mother was when she was having an eye exam. Apparently when an eye doctor looks into your eyes they can see a pattern. While the doctor was looking into her eyes he suddenly stepped back and he said, "you have Christmas Trees in your eyes, I have never seen anything like that." The doctor did not say pine trees, he said Christmas Trees. My mother died a couple of years ago and we all miss her. She celebrated life. Every holiday was an event, even St. Patricks day even though she was not Irish. Christmas though was without a doubt her favorite. Mother was the glue that kept us all together. The gift of giving lives on because of Santa Claus and my mother.