Thoughts of Santa before sleeping...

I’ve just gotten out of bed, where I was safely tucked in with my book for the night, when I came upon this sentence in the book I’m reading: “…church can help people gain a feel for how God shows up (in the world)…” (It’s a wonderful book by the way, by a female priest named Barbara Brown Taylor and it’s called “Leaving Church.”)

What compelled me to leave the comfort of my cozy bed was this idea of something in life pointing to the essence of Real Life. This is the second time this week that I’ve been struck by the principle. The first time was on Wednesday, which happens to be the feast of St. Nicolas. (Yes, the St. Nick also known as Santa Claus.) There really isn’t much known about him but we do get the idea of anonymous gift giving from an example in his life.

What struck me then was this idea that perhaps the anticipation many of us experienced as children as we counted down the days and lay awake on Christmas Eve night was really meant to be a spiritual precursor to the way we should anticipate the Gift in the manger. So often Santa Claus is symbolic of all that has become commercial and crass about Christmas. There are voices in the church who would say that Santa is the secular replacement for Jesus, and therefore antithetical to the “reason for the season.” Just this last week I was amused at a friend’s clever comment about Santa being an anagram for Satan.

But as I continue to intentionally keep myself in the season of Advent (Christmas comes later people), I think perhaps that the St. Nick we experienced in our innocence might help to remind us of how it feels to be excited in anticipation of blessing and joy now as adults.

This has been in the forefront of my mind because of the number of people I know and love who are really struggling this time of year. One friend said to me night before last that she hates this season because it just reminds her of the family she doesn’t have and the things that have not happened in her life. Emptiness and loneliness seem to be the underlying theme for many, which is especially cruel when everything around you is shouting, “Be happy and perky, it’s such a wonderful time of the year!” I know people who might lunge for the throat of anyone that had the audacity (and foolishness) to actually utter such trite nonsense to their faces.

It is with chagrin that I admit that I’m actually one of the people that genuinely feels happy and perky during this season. It was not always so. Perhaps it is because I spent so many years in the dark that when this season of preparation to welcome and receive the Light comes, I cannot help but feel gentle hope and comforting joy. I’ve been praying for those who are hurting and lonely. I pray that just as being in church can be a “starting place for discerning God’s presence in this world,” that being able to remember the simple and innocent anticipation as a child on Christmas Eve may help us welcome and embrace the true Gift of this season.

Let me close with the prayer from this morning:

Let your radiant beauty shine forth in our hearts, almighty God. Then the darkness of our night shall pass, and your Son's coming will show us to be the children of Light.

Amen