What about Santa...

Santa Claus is everywhere!

Many adults ask Junia if she is excited about Santa Claus, her preschool decorated Santa's house on the Island.

So much Christmas decoration is about Santa.  We went to goodwill today and I perused through the holiday section so much stuff was Santa.  Santa candles, Santa glasses, Santa mugs, Santa tchotchke everywhere.

People who know that we are intentional about parenting are asking us "what are you doing about Santa?"  Some people get all defensive with us. They love THEIR Santa tradition, and I think fear that not doing it their way means that the Magic of Christmas will not be present.  Others listen because they too are in the same question. . . and they simply asked us before we asked them.

So what are we doing about Santa?
Does it matter?

For our family Christmas is about the incarnation. It is about God becoming a person! God affirming humanity and humanness. It is about God's suprising entry into the world with all of its gross reality, lovely reality, wonderful reality.  It is about God's fundamental choice to continue (because yes God's first covenant IS with our Jewish brothers and sisters) to love us well, and to do so boldly.

So that's what we talk about.  It's not perfect. It's sometimes uncomfortable. It's sometimes more intimate than we like.  It is about gift giving and receiving   Because knowing how we receive and give gifts is an entry into knowing how we receive the gift of God's love (I'm bad at both!).  Gift giving and receiving is about love. The incarnation is about love, and fundamentally Saint Nicholas...Santa Clause...is about love.

So we aren't doing commercial Santa.  It seems a  bit too easy for our understanding of Christmas.  And from my point of view their is as much magic in my daughter's perception of Christmas as any other kids.  Because when I pulled out the 1 Mary holding baby Jesus that I got at Goodwill she was more excited than any other moment today.