Catholic New World photos/ David V. Kamba

Santa: the antidote to anti-Christmas forces

The Catholic New World catches up with Santa Claus for an exclusive interview before Christmas.

 

This is an updated version of an interview which originally ran in 1998, but it’s even more topical today as the very heart of the Christmas season—or at least its celebration in the broader culture—seems under attack. In fact, there almost seems to be a spirit of anti-Christmas in some quarters.

Hardly a day goes by without some school district or some governmental body trying to strip the holiday of its faith-filled origins. What’s left usually bears a resemblance to Christmas, but lacking its heart. Sort of like a tasty-looking whipped-cream dessert that’s made of—and tastes like—shaving cream. In those “holiday celebrations” Santa usually survives, though without any understanding of why. This exclusive interview with the Big Guy may help dispel some of that concern.

 

The Catholic New World: You’ve got a beard and red suit and I suppose you’ll tell me there’s a team of reindeer on the roof. Are you really, truly Santa Claus?

Santa Claus: How can I answer that? If I say that I am, children will believe all the other Santas they see are phonies. Yet, if I say no, how can anything else I tell you in this exclusive interview mean anything?

 

TCNW: Is that an answer?

SC: OK, OK, let me put it this way. For this moment, and in this place, yes, I’m Santa. But because there’s a great deal of magic in Christmas, the spirit of Santa can exist lots of other places at the same time.

 

TCNW: Magic? As in David Copperfield? Or Merlin? That sort of magic?

SC: Hardly. Though, in one sense, you might find a little—very little—of that in it. Copperfield is an illusionist, a slight-of-hand expert. He makes things “appear” to happen, not really happen. Parents do a little of that when they hide Christmas gifts in the back of the closet. And Merlin? Merlin is just a storybook character. But Santa is neither illusionist nor truly make-believe; and more importantly, neither is Christmas.

 

TCNW: So where’s the magic?

SC: The real magic of Christmas is its ability to truly change things.

 

TCNW: What sort of things?

SC: Sometimes just little things. And sometimes great big things. I’ll let you in on a trade secret, son: Sometimes the little things are the biggest of all.

 

TCNW: Huh?

SC: OK, confused you with that one. Pay attention. Not long ago, I was watching a little girl before she came up to sit on my lap. She was probably more than a little overwhelmed by this big, loud, red-suited, white-bearded guy. She didn’t smile and didn’t say much. Her parents were right there, of course. And when they put her on my lap, she just buried her head in my shoulder and clung so tightly that I thought she was going to rub all the fur off my coat. But then, all of a sudden, she picked up her head and gave me the biggest gap-toothed grin you ever saw. Warmed me right down to my boots. And you know, she was just great the rest of the time—and most of all, she was smiling.

 

TCNW: So, smiles are magic?

SC: Did you ever see one that wasn’t?

 

TCNW: But smiles seem so. ...

SC: Let me finish the sentence for you. You mean smiles are so small, minor, insignificant?

 

TCNW: Well, yes. Isn’t there more? I mean, there has to be more.

SC:üOf course there’s more. Christmas is an event that brings families together, recalls good times and even is an opportunity to heal old wounds. For children there is a fresh sense of excitement that even washes over parents—if they let it. Smiles are a big part of that.

 

TCNW: And your point is...?

SC: Wonder. Joy. Expectation. Hope. All the things that should be part of the Christmas experience for us all.

 

TCNW: Wonder, joy, hope ... wait a minute, that sounds suspiciously like faith’s take on the holiday. Isn’t Christmas really about reindeer, snowmen and the green guy, whatchacallhim, the Grinch? When you put faith into the picture, it’s, ummm, totally different, isn’t it?

SC Tell me about it. That nice little story about how the Grinch does terrible things and then has a miraculous change of heart is OK, I guess. But Christmas got along just fine before Dr. Seuss. In fact, Christmas got along a lot better when the main story was from that book called the Bible.

 

TCNW: But wait a minute. Santa Claus has been part of the holiday for a long time, too. Longer even than the Grinch, and you’re not in the Bible. Just how does Santa fit in? Sometimes it seems like you’re the CEO of a multinational toy conglomerate exploiting low-paid labor and animal-abusing delivery systems.

SC: You’re missing the point.

 

TCNW What point? Come to think of it, we’ve been talking here and you haven’t once mentioned electronic games, computers, CD players, remote-controlled cars, Barbies, cappuccino makers or anything like that. Aren’t they part of Christmas? Or will you tell me that’s missing the point, too?

SC: Presents are part of the celebration of the holiday. But, yes, you’re still missing the point. Even back when I was known as St. Nicholas, gifts from and to the ones we love were important. But the gifts were the opportunity to share with those who had less. That’s still true.

 

TCNW: That’s your point?

SC Certainly. It’s a matter of focus. Gifts and Santa Claus aren’t the reason for Christmas. Christmas is the reason for gifts and Santa. So is love. I keep remembering a little picture hanging on the mantle of my cottage. It’s very special to me. It shows me kneeling in front of a simple manger, praying while a child dozes in the straw and a bright star glistens overhead. Can you guess what I’m feeling at that moment?

 

TCNW: I can guess. Might it be wonder, joy, expectation and hope?

SC: You’ve got it. That, and a whole lot more, too. Without that child, there could be no Santa. And, as long as there are children—and the continuing celebration of that child in the manger—there will be a place for Santa, too.

 

TCNW: You made your point, but I’ve got one last question: Why does Santa say, “Ho, ho, ho” so much?

SC: Sorry, that’s another trade secret.

 

TCNW: I won’t tell anyone. Scout’s honor.

SC: You’re sure? No blabbing it all over the newspaper?

 

TCNW: Would I lie to Santa Claus?

SC: OK, (looks around and lowers his voice) it’s because when I laugh, my belly shakes like a bowlful of jelly and ...

 

TCNW: Yes, yes, go on.

SC: Well, all that shaking keeps me warm. It’s cold up there, you know; and my sleigh’s not heated.

 

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