LIFE LESSONS
Pondering Christmas Susan Zimmerman
Our decision was accompanied with solemn warnings to our children, once they started school, not to spoil any classmates’ belief in Santa. And thankfully they did really well with this. There were no reports, anyway, of tearful friends learning from our children that Santa was not who they believed he was.
I love Christmas, but often find it hard to celebrate the real Christmas well. It’s easy to enjoy seasonal delights: the warm glow of luminarias, hanging family ornaments on the tree, making my grandmother’s cranberries, exchanging gifts, savoring family time, and of course, cookies! But it’s hard to focus and let the meaning of Jesus’ birth fully impact my heart and mind. Why? I think it’s because of my captivation by my favorite seasonal delights, along with a general sense of rush and pressure to take in all that the holiday season appears to offer. As much as I enjoy all the special festivities around Christmas— and there is nothing wrong with doing so—every year I long to not let the trappings of Christmas get in the way of having the miracle of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, penetrate my soul. I want to be like Mary and “treasure[d] up all these things, pondering them.” (Luke 2:19) Sometimes God brings experiences into our lives that help us do that. Here are two Christmases past when that happened for me.
1996: The Perfect Christmas Brunch From the time our two children were very young, we made it clear to them that Santa Claus was not real. Lest I sound like a grinch, I want to say that this was a personal decision for our family, not one we would press on anyone else. But for us, it felt right. We didn’t want Santa belief to potentially interfere with belief in Jesus. And, quite selfishly, I was not about to let our kids think we had nothing to do with the gifts we worked so hard to select, buy, assemble and wrap.
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However, not emphasizing Santa hardly made me a Christmas saint. I was not above caring deeply about appearances, and the holidays were no exception. The Christmas that our daughter was in first grade and our son in four-year-old preschool, we had an opportunity to go to brunch at a nice restaurant the Sunday before Christmas. And it was shaping up to be a great family time, which was all good, but also, in my mind, something like a holiday postcard scene. The kids had new Christmas outfits! The brunch was going to be fancy and festive! The weather was Christmas cold and clear! I carefully schooled the kids about how to be on their best behavior, and after attending morning service, off we went. The brunch was lovely, and the kids sailed through the meal beautifully. They used their inside voices, ate what was on their plates, and genuinely seemed to enjoy the lights and décor. We were, I was sure, the picture-perfect holiday family. Then we walked to the front to pay our bill. The hostess, beaming with holiday cheer, approached our two children. “And what is Santa going to bring you this year?” An innocuous question at Christmas for most any child. Not for my daughter. Before I could intervene, she handled the situation. Fixing the hostess with a stern gaze, she announced, not in an inside voice, “There is no Santa Claus!” Her shout echoed across the restaurant. In an instant, the entire room went silent. The hostess looked shocked, then, she glared at me. Her look seemed to say, “What kind of parent would rob an innocent child of holiday joy?” I wish I could say that graciously, tactfully, I shared with the hostess that we focused on Jesus’ birth at Christmas instead of Santa. But I had no words. In that moment, all I wanted to do was leave. Quickly. Which we did. We did tell our daughter that what she said was right, and that we were glad she understood what Christmas was really about. We also asked her to try to remember to use her inside voice at restaurants.
