Yes, Qahal, there is a Santa Claus
Although I generally concur with my esteemed co-blogger, I must (sort-of) disagree with his post below about Santa Claus. I don't really disagree with him, because he does say that the fairy tales are fine (just don't say Santa actually delivered the goods this year) and he does seek to bring the focus back to Christ. Qahal's focus on the One True Myth as a story surpassing all other myths sounds a little like C.S. Lewis's realization that lead to his conversion, so I guess I do agree with that much of the post.
However, I will stick with Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, etc. on the importance and value of other myths (including Santa, of course). There is a recent article in Touchstone discussing why "Training Up a Child Requires a Well-Formed Imagination"(article not on line, but here is a discussion of it). It is a fantastic read -- Qahal, you can borrow my copy. And of course, the essential Christmas reading is this little letter to Viginia. Read that and tell me it isn't the greatest thing ever written -- and I would say, until Qahal and Augustine prove me wrong that is, that this article does not lie to the little girl ("Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!"). There may not be an actual fat man in a red suit who lives at the North Pole, but Santa Claus -- that is something real.
I can understand the concern that a child who learns that his parents have been lying about Santa may be devastated, but not so the child who has been born into the wonder of Beatrix Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, and other fairy stories. Yes, Christ first, because Christ is the only story that is real, but other stories that are creations of the creature created by God still have a place in the child's life. Here is a supplemental read.
However, I will stick with Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, etc. on the importance and value of other myths (including Santa, of course). There is a recent article in Touchstone discussing why "Training Up a Child Requires a Well-Formed Imagination"(article not on line, but here is a discussion of it). It is a fantastic read -- Qahal, you can borrow my copy. And of course, the essential Christmas reading is this little letter to Viginia. Read that and tell me it isn't the greatest thing ever written -- and I would say, until Qahal and Augustine prove me wrong that is, that this article does not lie to the little girl ("Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!"). There may not be an actual fat man in a red suit who lives at the North Pole, but Santa Claus -- that is something real.
I can understand the concern that a child who learns that his parents have been lying about Santa may be devastated, but not so the child who has been born into the wonder of Beatrix Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, and other fairy stories. Yes, Christ first, because Christ is the only story that is real, but other stories that are creations of the creature created by God still have a place in the child's life. Here is a supplemental read.
posted by Ransom at 9:35 AM
5 Comments:
Okay. I'm not totally convinced that we are disagreeing on anything yet. Perhaps I wasn't totally forthcoming with my post.
I would never do anything other than promote the telling of myths and fables to my children because of the value of a well-formed imagination. I think that is the point being made by the Touchstone article: "try to form [children's] imaginations... by immersing them in books that express the Christian understanding of the world"
And I would also say that I am not contradicting the timeless response to our dear Virginia. Sure, Santa "is something real", but in this letter Santa is really just a figure representing Virginia's imagination. Look, the letter doesn't say, "There is a Santa, he has elves and reindeer and lives at the North Pole with Ms. Clause, etc." They aren't defending Santa, they are defending Virginia's imagination (something that apparently teachers in England no longer do) The letter is really just asking the question: How can you prove that Santa is not real? How can you prove that your imagination is not a resourceful tool in coming to know truth?
My point is that with all other myths, they are stories. We read the books to the kids and their imaginations run wild. They imagine that walking into a wardrobe may actually take them into Narnia. They dream of walking upside down on the ceiling or hopping into paintings or fighting dragons and exploring dungeons or riding ponies along rainbows (hopefully those are your daughters). But there seems to be something different with the Santa myth. We aren't just playing along with their imagination, we seem to be driving it. We aren't just reading them the stories of Santa. We put so much of effort into convincing them that the myth is real in this case that it breaks their hearts when they find out the truth. To the point that Christmas is now "ruined".
Its just not the same as growing up and realizing that there is no Narnia. There is no Middle Earth. There are no fairies. Santa has become more than just another myth. That is my point. And that is why I bring up the One True Myth. Not to say that myths in general detract from it, but specifically to say that the current nature of the Santa myth has so exceeded the proper bounds of myth-dom that it does.
P.S. I just noticed that our favorite people on the other blog posted on this very topic just before I did. I am, as usual, unimpressed with their contribution to the matter.
There is no Narnia?
I agree with your response - we aren't really disagreeing. Santa will be a real part of my kids' world in the same way that elves and fairies are. Christmas won't be ruined when they find out Mr. Claus doesn't exist, just like their innocence won't be ruined when we never find a wardrobe that leads us to a magical land (but that won't stop us from trying find one).
The one thing I never understood was trying to pull the Santa Claus = St. Nickolaus argument as a reason to support Santa. Even as a young apathetic tyke with no religious interest, I knew that St. Nick's feast day was on Dec. 6, not Dec. 25th. Why would St. Nick leave me candy in my shoes on the 6th and then come back as an alter-ego with the big goodies a few weeks later? I know, to celebrate the birth of Christ, but then why did he fill my shoes up earlier? It never made sense.
One last thing; you say that "the current nature of the Santa myth has so exceeded the proper bounds of myth-dom that it does." Very true, but not a fair reason to condemn the jolly fat man. Modern society has destroyed everything that used to be proper and proportionate. The new pagan world is bad, but that doesn't mean that pre-Christianity pagans were all that bad (Dante even met a few of them in Paradise). Yes, Santa is now different than the other myths, but that is modern culture's fault, not Santa's. And I shall disavow the modern Santa myth like I disavow everything modern, but I am keeping the old Santa.
Ever the good pagan,
Ransom
I completely agree with all of your points, especially the St. Nick one. Also, I refuse to condemn Santa in totalis. You are correct to place the blame on our culture. Stories of Santa will be told with great vigor in Qahal's household. I'm just not sure that we are going to play the part on Christmas Eve. Some may say that's everything. I just don't see it that way. Ho! Ho! Ho!
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