Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Yes, Edward, There is a Santa Clause

I find it incredibly annoying to have my children reading over my shoulder while I write, but I guess, just this once, it is okay...

What I must write first might be hard for a child to hear from his parent. It is: I don't have all the answers.

I don't know how it works or who exactly he is. Is he really St. Nicholas, or do they just share a name? Where does he live? How does he circle the world in a night and go up and down the chimney? How do the reindeer fly? Like you, I have heard the theories: He makes time stand still, "laying a finger aside of his nose", The North Pole. But these are just theories I can not prove. Like why the earth circles the sun and the moon circles the earth. I know something of the theory of gravitational force, but that really isn't much of an answer.

I just don't know how it all works. I am sorry, I can't give you more.

But knowing how isn't really the most important thing. I do know why. I know why this man has been given such magical power. I know what he stands for if I do not know how he manages it. I know he travels the world in a single night to show us the love of Baby Jesus. I know he defies laws of time and space in order to show us just what is possible. I know magic exists in the world.

Love is magical, my child. I don't know how it works either, really. I do not know how I love you so much or how daddy loves me. I just know it is true. I know love can defy the laws of time and space; I know my daddy still loves me. It can create something out of nothing. It makes the impossible possible.

So Yes, Edward, there is a Santa Clause. As sure as the earth circles the sun, there is magic in the world. And no matter how old we get, we must never forget that. If there is love in the world, there is magic too. And so I will never say, even at thirty-nine years old, that what Santa Clause does is impossible.

Who would have ever believed that a man could land on the moon, that bread and wine could become the body and blood of Christ, that we could send sound through a wire? You and me, that's who.

So, if you are asked or if you are wondering, "How is it possible?" Your answer should always be, "Only a fool would say 'It is Impossible.'"

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