Last night, while my wife was at her book club, my kids and I visited some friends. On the way home, my 5 year old, Isabel, calls out “Dad?” from the backseat.
“Yes, Bel?”
“Did you know, um, that some people don’t even celebrate Christmas? They do Hannakuh.”
She had been learning this in school. “Yeah, Bel, that’s right.”
“And Dad?”
“Yeah, Bel.”
“Did you know that when people celebrate Hannakuh, that Santa just skips their houses?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they don’t have any Christmas tree or presents or anything, so he just doesn’t have to stop there.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. So aren’t you really glad that we chose Christmas instead of Hannakuh?”
(Tell me, parents–what do you say now? Here’s what I said.)
“Well, Bel, it’s not that we chose Christmas. It’s that we believe in Jesus. Christmas isn’t about Santa and presents; it’s about Jesus. We celebrate Christmas because we believe in Jesus.”
“Yeah, but Dad? What do people who celebrate Hannakuh believe in? Not God?”
“Well, they believe in God, too. But they don’t believe in the story of Jesus.”
“Oh. … But, Dad? If they believe in God, then that’s the same thing as believing in Jesus. So they really do believe in Jesus.”
(Ahem.)
“Well, Bel, no. There are lots of stories about God. Some of those stories, we share with people who believe in Hannakuh. The stories about Moses, Noah…you know all those?” (“Yeah, Dad.”) “They believe in those, too. But this story about Jesus, well, people who believe in Hannakuh believe Jesus was a good man, they believe that he happened, but they don’t believe he was God.”
“Oh.”
“You understand?”
“Yeah.”
A moment of silence.
“But Dad?”
“Yeah, Bel.”
“It’s a good thing Santa gets to skip the houses of people who celebrate Hannakuh. Because there’s no way he’d get to all the houses.”
posted December 12, 2008 at 9:58 am
Well handled Patton. I wonder when she’ll question other religions as well. I hope you and your family have a safe and healthy holiday season.
posted December 12, 2008 at 6:21 pm
I could use your astute mind to answer this one:
(As we take the kids to buy presents for kids who probably won’t be getting too many for Christmas)
“But why isn’t SANTA bringing these kids presents?”
I didn’t know there was a Clausian problem of evil.
posted December 12, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Jeff,
Nick may not see your compliment about his astute mind, but if he comes back on another thread I’ll pass it along.
I’m not sure how to answer that question either, but as long as you didn’t resort to “naughty list” logic, I think whatever you came up with was probably fine.
posted December 14, 2008 at 10:08 pm
By all means, if this child believes in the factual truth of Santa Claus, you ought to discourage her immediately ! Jesus is real, and should not have to share space with an imaginary cargo-cult deity.
posted December 15, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Patton, I think Jeff was referring to you astuteness. And then Howard also raises an interesting aspect of it all. Why must we perpetuate the mythology of Santa. Perhaps one could discuss the history of Santa and its origins with Saint Nicholas (Nicholas of Myra), my namesake’s saint. We can discuss with children then lesson of giving to others. I particularly find interesting the story of providing a dowry for the family of 3 girls, to save them from a life of solicitation.
While my faith is a winding path that I am still traveling, I believe that the gift of this world is the charity of others. I hope Santa (and St. Nick) teach us a lesson about giving.
posted December 15, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Yeah, I was kidding with Jeff. I guess dry humor doesn’t always translate online.
My daughter also believes in the factual truth of fairies, and that we can drive to China. I understand what you’re getting at Howard, but all in due time.