Warning: If you still hear the bell, you might not want to read this post.
~*~
My grandson Jakob was visiting me a few weeks ago. I asked him nonchalantly what he might like for Christmas. I was not prepared for his response.
"Christmas! What's the point?!"
There was a fair amount of heat and his hands were helping punctuate each comment with sharp gesticulations.
I was both taken aback and amused.
When I could get a word in edgewise, I asked a few more pertinent questions and discovered, beyond the obvious, the following:
*Jake had learned last year when he was ten that there is no Santa.
*He felt betrayed by his parents who had "lied" to him all these years.
*He felt like a fool for believing all these years when he knew very well that the entire story was "ridiculous." He'd known the truth since he was six.
*He was worried about what further important information his parents might be withholding.
In addition, he made insightful, pertinent comments such as that he had been thanking Santa all these years when he should have been thanking his parents. He wondered why parents would do such a thing as lie about Santa.
Finally, when he was pretty much winded with his commentary, I suggested that perhaps parents encouraged such beliefs because they wanted their children to experience the wonder of Christmas. I told him this story of my own:
When your daddy was a little boy only about four years old, he told me that he loved Jesus all year long, but at Christmastime, he loved Santa best. I decided that that was not a good thing and so I told him and your auntie all about the real Santa, a far more fascinating story by the way. They did not react well. They cried and cried. I wished that I had done what my sister did for she never mentioned Santa Claus; he was just not a part of their Christmas story. (I might have done what she did if I had had an older sister to learn by as she had. ☺)
Now you, Jake, have been taught about Santa and have learned that it is not all quite true. Which way would you have preferred? Never to believe as your cousins Kirsten and Keanne, to have been taught and learn the truth early like your dad and your aunt or as you did? I could tell that he was thinking it over, but he did not share his thoughts.
He was still worried that Christmas had lost its sparkle. (In fact, his mom decorated for Christmas just last weekend and his home looks like Better Homes and Gardens, but he is showing no interest.)
At last, I got to the crux of the matter. Christmas is about the fact that Jesus was willing to be born in human form and come to this earth as a little baby in Bethlehem.. He was the only baby born to die. Humanity desperately needed Him. We need Him today and every day. The joy of Christmas is not Santa; the joy of Christmas is Jesus Himself. I shared that I still get a special thrill at Christmas and Santa has not been a part of my life since long decades ago. I urged Jakob to think about things differently and to celebrate for all the right reasons.
Perhaps one day, I'll share with him that the economy of the entire world is literally based upon the "birthday" of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate on December 25. I find it infinitely fascinating that Jesus is holding this old world together. These are points that can not be refuted. Look it up! For that reason alone, I shall celebrate Christmas! And there's more so much more.
When my son arrived that day to fetch his son, I mentioned the conversation that Jakob and I had been having. My son grinned wryly and said, "Yes, Jake is holding a grudge." ツ
On Thanksgiving Day, Jake commented that the trees around here were getting smaller and smaller. Whatever could have given him that idea?
Jake took a look at my Tag Book...I can tell!
Yesterday, when I put up the new 7.5 foot tree, I began to wonder what in the world I had been thinking...
Now I know.
I was thinking about Jakob. It's time to ❇️sparkle❇️
P.S. For further reading on the Christmas discussion, visit Brenda *Here.* It'll be a blessing!
