Santa embodies the good of Christmas

Is Santa Claus real?

The question eventually comes up for those who believe.

The answer is that of course he is real. He may or may not be a little old guy who lives at the North Pole and employs elves but he is the embodiment of the spirit of the season. Reindeer are also real. Most of them can’t fly. Santa himself picks out the ones who will pull his sleigh.

The reindeer games are very popular. Most reindeer are content to stay with their friends and families. It takes a special animal to travel all the way to the north pole just to have a chance to enter the Flight Academy for reindeer. 

Reindeer games test the ability to work together, the ability to read a map, stamina, strength, and a whole host of other abilities. Santa doesn’t always choose the winners to participate in the next round of qualifications.

One year there was a scrawny, short female deer named Samantha, who went by the name of Sammi.  When she told her friends that she was going to tryout for Santa’s crew, they all laughed and told her she would never qualify.

She came in dead last in every game. In the very last trial she was ahead of the pack when she suddenly stopped and ran to the back of the line. The biggest, fastest and meanest competitor had fallen. One of his antlers broke. It looked like he was crying, “I’ll never get picked now.”

Sammi helped him up and when she discovered that he couldn’t walk, she grabbed a sleigh that was on the sidelines. Then she nudged a couple of elves. The three of them loaded the wounded animal into the sleigh and took off. They came in next to last but they finished the race. Mrs. Claus took care of the wounded reindeer and he was back to normal in a few days. 

Santa watched everything. After awarding prizes to the top five animals, he walked over to Sammi. He told her that she was not going to the Academy. Instead she was going into personalized training to be Mrs. Santa’s special helper. 

Sammi then asked Santa if the reindeer she helped could also have a job. Santa told her that any reindeer who was not chosen was given the opportunity to return home, or to be given a job of Santa’s choice. 

Life itself can be like that. It seldom works out the way we had planned. Sammi thought she wanted to pull Santa’s sleigh. In working with Mrs. Claus, she found a joy she could only imagine while she was wandering the frozen tundra she used to call home.

We all have talents. We all have problems. Santa is the embodiment of giving without expecting anything in return. He appreciates a few cookies and a glass of milk, but they aren’t necessary. 

Christmas began as a religious holiday. It celebrates the birth of Christ, hence the name, Christmas. It is still a religious holiday. It is also a secular day dominated by overspending, over decorating, over eating, and whatever other gluttony we can dream up. Somewhere in the days before and after we may stop and mourn those who can no longer be with us in person. My daughter and I have a tradition that sometime during the holiday we stop and tell Jesus, “Happy Birthday.” 

For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, I trust that you will benefit from the spirit of the season. If you have your own holidays during this time I hope that they have their own symbols of faith and happiness.

I have a dear friend who converted to her husband’s religion. She told me that I would no longer receive Christmas cards from her because they didn’t celebrate holidays any more. I told her that was  fine except they will still receive cards from me because that is part of how I do the holidays. Both of us honored the other’s religion. Neither of us thinks the other is a heathen. Oh, wait, maybe she does think I am a heathen. It didn’t stop her from giving me her prize-winning chili recipe. 

Back to the question of Santa being real or not. As the embodiment of all that is good about the holidays, Santa is absolutely real. Sammi, on the other hand, may not be.