On Why I Think Santa and Jesus are Probably Friends

When I was little, my mother had a collection of pins and brooches.  It was always exciting when she brought out her Christmas collection, because that meant Christmas was just around the corner!  She had a variety of different pins, but the one I remember most clearly was a little off-white stone with the words “Jesus is the reason for the season” painted on it.  As a child, I found this saying delightfully clever.  Don’t ask why… I don’t know.  Rhyming apparently intrigued me.  Yes, I was a totally geeky kid!

As an adut, I find myself in an interesting quandary.  I’m a Christian.  Fairly devout, in fact.  Although I fail at my execution more often than I succeed, it is my intention to make God’s ways my ways.  I find Christmas to be an incredibly encouraging time of year – a time when I can come back to basics, root myself in what really matters, focus on love and giving, and experience a renewed appreciation for the reason for my faith.  So in a sense, I agree with the whole “Jesus is the reason for the season” thing.

But do you know what?  I also love Santa.  I love reindeer.  I love presents.  I love lights.  I love inane seasonal parties that consume my creative energies.  I love hustle.  I love bustle.  I love shopping.  I love cookies.  Oh, how I love cookies! I love the cultural side of Christmas.  Just like I love Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day and Independence Day.  These cultural celebrations mean something to me, something separate from my religious experiences and my faith journey.  Christmas is religious, yes, but it’s also cultural, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

I don’t know if it’s because times have changed or if it’s because I’m getting older and am just noticing it more.  But lately I’ve noticed a backlash from Christians against cultural Christmas.  People seem quite occupied with the need to put “cultural Christmas” in its place.  I’ve talked to people who choose to limit their gift giving to three gifts per person because that’s what the Wise Men gave to Jesus.  Others resist Santa, trees, lights, and other cultural Christmas items as “worthless” and “distractions.”  People refuse to attend holiday parties that don’t focus exclusively on Jesus’ birth. Some Christians take deep offense when someone says Happy Holidays or writes the word x-mas.  “We have to keep the ‘Christ’ in Christmas!” they say with fervor.

Please don’t misunderstand.  I don’t have a problem with these things in isolation.  There is nothing wrong with exchanging a prescribed number of gifts.  There is nothing wrong with saying, “Merry Christmas!”  There is nothing wrong with avoiding Santa.  Nothing.  The part that bothers me is the villification of cultural Christmas.  Cultural Christmas isn’t bad.  It’s not stealing anything from spiritual Christmas.  It doesn’t compromise the value of the season.

My emerging opinion is that one enhances the other.  There are many people in America – in the world, really – who don’t celebrate a spiritual Christmas.  What do they celebrate at Christmas?  Love.  Relationships.  Hope.  Peace.  True, they’re not concerned about a baby in a manger.   Aren’t Christians, however, celebrating those same things – the love Jesus brought to us that we’re to share with others?  Our restored relationship with God that allows us to have deeper, more genuine relationships with those around us?  The hope we have because of the amazing miracle of our faith?  The peace we can know and the peace we want everyone to share?  How wonderful is it that at the same time each year much of America – religious or otherwise – is celebrating a set of shared values?

That’s why I don’t understand the war Christians wage on Christmas.  Why do we spend our time alienating, offending, and “standing right” while we fail to see the connections and common ground we share with everyone around us?  Why do we isolate ourselves and turn inward rather than extend ourselves in joy toward others?

Rather than diminishing its value, I think cultural Christmas enhances spiritual Christmas.  Christians have a chance to use cultural Christmas to help us more fully enjoy our relationships with others while our surroundings and experiences supply us plentiful reminders of what really drives our faith.  I see Santa and I am warmed by the theme of generosity.  As an extension, in my faith I am reminded of the generous blessings I’ve received and desire to share those same blessings with others.  I see Christmas lights and feel wonderment.  That wonderment reminds me of the wonderment I feel toward God’s ability and desire to create beauty, to forgive evil, and to sacrifice so much on my behalf.  I hear someone say, “Happy holidays,” and I smile and appreciate the fact that someone took a moment to share a pleasantry.  As a Christian, I remember that words have power and think of the copious instructions God gives me in regard to the words I choose and the things I discuss.

If it’s wrong to celebrate cultural Christmas, I can’t see why it’s okay to celebrate New Year’s or Valentine’s Day or Independence Day or any of the other assorted holidays we celebrate in America.  But I guess the bigger point is that I can’t see why celebrating a cultural version of Christmas is wrong at all.  As far as the cultural components, I think we can either use them as points of connection or points of division.  That’s our choice.  And I don’t think the collective overriding choice I’ve been seeing lately is the best choice we could be making.