I get letters that ask: Is Santa Real? or Is Santa Claus Real or not? Or often questions such as this one: Santa, are you real or not. My friends at school say you are fake! I think you’re real. Are you real? Well the answer to the question is not so difficult when you ask yourself how many people have been able to change the world more than Santa Claus? We are all trying hard to change this world now: Make it cleaner. Clean the air, the oceans; fix the ozone layer. And, for some reason, people are not real good at changing the world. Or even changing the way they live. Even if it means making the planet safe for our children.
Well Santa Claus must be real. Because at least he manages to get people to think about the young people on our planet for a while each year and try to make the world a special place for them! But, it the rest of the year where we need to believe in what Santa represents: Caring about others and not just yourself. If Pinocchio can teach a child the value of telling the truth then the message is real. And if it’s a good message, it’s better than what Madison Avenue teaches us or what some poorly written just-for-profit movies teach us. Anything that leaves an impression with people on a massive scale is real, and when the impression has a positive effect on people, it’s not only real it’s “real good”!
The downsides to Christmas and Santa Claus are:
1. When people don’t really understand the spirit of Christmas. And that spirit can be something very different to different people and still be real and still be good. It is not about stressing out to buy expensive and sometime useless gifts. It’s about remembering and caring about our kids, family and friends.
2. When we forget that Christmas and Santa Claus is more than a religious holiday for just some people. It certainly is a religious holiday, and an important one for many people, but it’s also a universal holiday that blends with the other holidays that teach the same spirit of caring and unselfishness to children of all different beliefs as well. And we should all make an effort to remember that the planet is a small place with a lot to learn and share with all cultures. And certainly Santa Claus is real to the people who celebrate Kwanzaa and Hanuka and even just Winter Solstice. It’s all part of the magic of the planet we live on and the harmony of the celebration of life that Christmas is all about.
Everything that Christ taught us when he walked on this earth thousands of years ago are good messages for today. And the same values are taught to many, many children of many religions around the world, from our native Americans to the Daoists of China who all believe in a deep and sincere respect for all life.
Santa Claus is real. He represents the appreciation of our children and our children are the future of our planet. And the universal magic in all the positive religions and philosophies on this planet. So if Santa can get one person to do something positive each year it’s a real accomplishment! There are lots of so called “real” people out there who haven’t done as many real good things as the real spirit of Santa. Is Santa Claus real or not. Well, my fingers are hurting from typing. And I can go on indefinitely with this and come up with a gazillion reasons why Santa Claus IS real. But you’ll figure it out yourself:)
