December 7, 2011
Symbol of Christmas:
Santa Claus
I think Santa is the most magical part of Christmas. I remember sitting on his lap when I was little, telling him what I wanted for Christmas. I remember when my sister and I first discovered that Santa "wasn't real." My parents had accidentally left some shopping receipts on the dining room table which coincidentally had the same items which we had received "from Santa" on Christmas. I started to put two and two together and when we asked my mom about it, she gave us a really good answer. She told us about Saint Nicholas, a very kind man who would do good deeds for the poor and needy and he would leave presents for the children. When he died, the moms and dads decided to carry on the tradition of leaving presents for their children from "Santa Claus." I thought that that made perfect sense. And since then for me, Santa Claus has always been a symbol of charity.
Looking at the history of the origin of Santa Claus, it seems my mom got it pretty much right. This site gives a pretty good explanation of the origin of the Santa Claus tradition (it's kind of long). Though almost every country has it's own traditions and version of Santa Clause that evolved over time, it seems pretty universally accepted that the Santa Claus tradition originated from the charitable acts of someone. So for me, Santa represents charity, or the pure love of Christ. After all, Christ was the perfect example of charity. It makes me think of the scripture Matthew 25:40 "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Christmas is a time to remember Christ and what better way to remember and honor Him than to show kindness and charity to those around us. I don't mind letting my kids "believe in Santa" as long as I remember to teach them what Santa represents. After all, as President Monson said, "...Christmas is what we make of it." I want to make Christmas a time of giving and for spreading love and kindness, and for telling those I love that I care about them. I think Saint Nicholas would be deeply honored to know that he would eventually come to represent the spirit of Christmas which I believe is charity, the pure love of Christ.
