My buddy Soren has written an insightful and provocative piece about the "Happy Holidays" issue. That has given my inspiration to weigh in on these matters. I'll cover it in two parts. First, let me address the Christmas holiday...
I used to be one of these "keep Christ in Christmas" guys but I've moderated my position over the years. I basically see four approaches to Christmas taken by Christians.
- It's not biblical, so we don't celebrate it. (Also, some troubling issues with it's pagan and catholic origins might be involved).
- It's a CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY. Less than blatant expressions of a Jesus' birthday approach are unacceptable. Hence, Santa, Rudolph & Frosty must go!
- It'a a secular (non-christian) celebration. Bring on Santa, Rudolph, Frosty and everything else, just don't give me that Jesus' birthday nonsense!
- A little of all of the above. That's what I do.
I read Luke 2 and watch Charlie Brown and sing Silent Night as well as Jingle Bells. I do Christmas Eve service and Santa. I concede it's not biblical, but I still think it's nice to focus on His coming in a special way.
3 comments:
So how do you do Santa? I have never been able to reconcile the lying to my kids thing and the God-like qualities. Not being judgmental, just wondering about perspective.
I struggled with it but here's where I am. I treat it like a fantasy thing. I respect people who don't do Santa - it's fine with me. I just handle it like I handle my children pretending to be people they aren't. They really aren't these characters and Superman, Spiderman, etc. aren't real but they sort of think so. I don't burst the bubble by saying "Superman is fictional and you are not Superman...there's no such thing!" Young children particularly move freely between fantasy and reality. I think that's being a kid. Hey they think their Dads are the strongest men in the world!
Does Santa exist? No, but yes, in the sense that he is an imaginary character. That's my short answer. Have a good one.
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