Christmas and Santa Claus

Posted on 11/29/2015 by wdkealy
Decorating a christmas tree

Christmas Spirit

Views on Christmas and Santa Claus

As the years pass different views on Christmas and Santa Claus seem to become more passionate. It used to be that manger scenes were in more abundance, not only portrayed in peoples front yards, but also in front of city/town halls. Gradually those manger scenes turned into reindeer and Santa Claus as peoples view points condemning the Christ child and manger scenes took precedence.

I personally remember my dad spending hours making a 6 foot crown and a cross fitting inside the crown, all decked out with lights set into the plywood, lit up, sitting on our front lawn, with snow increasing the effect (we lived in snow 8 months of the year in central Alberta, Canada). I also remember hanging stockings and listening/reading ‘The Night Before Christmas” A wonderful, exciting time of the year.

Christmas is about the Christ child, God’s ultimate gift to us, but Santa Claus was/is also a part of Christmas to me. It is wonderful to gift at Christmas, not excessively, but meaningfully. Sometimes volunteering to help in the ‘soup kitchen’, reading to family the Christmas story around a live christmas tree, then taking turns opening gifts – some of my memories. A filter system can easily sort out the difference between Santa Claus and the real meaning of Christmas-the true historically proven birth of Jesus. But Santa Claus always held an exciting element of celebrating Christmas to me also. I never experienced Santa Claus as a negative, but a positive as portraying a giving spirit, linked to parents and ultimately to God’s gift of His son to us.

I love to hear ‘Merry Christmas” when someone greets me at this time of year instead of ‘Happy Holiday’. HOW ABOUT YOU?

About wdkealy

I retired from a career as a tennis professional to move to Portland with my wife to care for my in-laws and my mother in Abbotsford, BC. Not wanting to retire I took a vocational test and at the top was 'writer'. I have been researching and writing for about five years now and am looking to take more steps forward in pursuing this as a career. Time will tell whether I have the 'passion' to stay the course. My wife and I have three grown children with whom we are close. I had the privilege of coaching a high school team to a state championship in 2010. The team won by 1/2 point which was a credit to all team players. Looking to attend another writer's conference this year and grow. In the meantime I look forward to improving my social networking skills in order to have more meaningful contact with others who share a passion for life.
This entry was posted in uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.