The Santa Effect
So, it is Christmas Eve! It has been a long time since I felt a child’s excitement at Christmastime. The anticipation of a new toy under the tree is long gone. I think I can relate to Ebenezer Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol. It’s not that I am actively grumpy or disagreeable about all of the hustle and bustle of this time of year or the endless parade of Amazon deliveries at my house… okay, maybe I am… a little bit… or a lot. The magic of the holiday is gone.
I do love the goodwill towards men and the family gatherings. I get a great deal of satisfaction in seeing the little ones smile and the effervescing excitement and anticipation of a visit from jolly old Saint Nick. I wish a little bit of that spirit would permeate my thick skin and thicker skull. But, alas, I know that Santa is all in the imagination of youth and not part of an old curmudgeon.
I can think of a thing or two that I would like to wake up to on Christmas morning. The first that comes to mind is being able to spring out of bed with energy and a body free from aches and pains. Maybe another would be a mind free from the jobs that need to be done and the bills to be paid. That would be magic, for sure. But enough about that.
Why does the Santa myth continue, or, for that matter, why does any belief system persist? By belief system, I mean any unprovable cultural, social, or religious idea that people cling to or defend. After all, isn’t it childish to modify one’s behaviors based on things we can’t prove? I am convinced that Santa is simply a tool parents and others use to persuade children to be nice instead of naughty.
If belief in Santa is a behavioral modifier for children’s natural tendency to be self-centered and to get what they want, what do we believe in that changes us? The obvious answer is a judgmental God with a plan that includes the incentive of eternal bliss. But children are not stupid to believe in Santa because there is evidence that he exists. The evidence is under the Christmas tree every Christmas morning. While Santa may not be real, the behavioral changes that believing in him produce are.
Santa encourages children to be self-aware and to be conscious of their actions. He is a reminder to be good, share, help, and think of others. He unlocks empathy and a spirit of giving. There is magic when we can imagine how others must feel when they are sick, lonely, or poor, and we help them. Santa becomes more real when a child progresses from wanting things for themselves to wanting something for others.
So, is it unsophisticated and naive to believe in Santa? In a literal way, yes, obviously. However, the results of a belief matter to me, and if the results are actual, then in some way, so is Santa. That is the Santa effect.
Are there things about Santa that are real? I say yes. Learning to have faith is number one. However, while belief in Santa does not meet the standard of true faith, it conveys the concept children can relate to. The reward for good behavior is another. Learning how to give and receive gratefully genuinely changes us.
I realize that I am nuanced in my approach to the concepts of belief and reality, but that is because sometimes what we think is real can be temporary or will change over time. Some things never change, and I would argue that they are the most real. If we don’t conform to those realities, we cannot become who we should be.
Failure to recognize the things that are most real leaves societies in ruins. A poem by Rudyard Kipling illustrates this point called The Gods of the Copybook Headings. It focuses on the marketplace but also demonstrates that some things never change. Here is the text:
“As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: _”If you don’t work you die.” _
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!”
Now, back to Santa and Christmas. Why do we have Santa as a symbol of Christmas when the birth of the Savior of the world is the reason for the celebration? Wouldn’t Jesus be best? After all, his gifts are far superior to any toy or candy left under a tree. Perhaps we need Santa because any gifts we give or receive in his name cannot satisfy the things of our actual eternal reality. Could you imagine a toy under the tree with a tag that reads, “Dear Billy, here is that firetruck you’ve been asking for, From Jesus”? However, true joy comes when one hears, “be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” There is no comparison in the value of these two examples. Maybe we need Santa to fill the need of lesser gifts.
Don’t be ashamed to believe in things like Santa because when you do, you try a little harder to be good. When you feel and act like Santa, you are happy and see the happiness in the faces of others. That is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
Here are some of the lessons we learned from the Santa effect. When you believe in good things, good things happen. When you believe in better things, better things happen. That is a good starting point to move on to the most fundamental things and learn to believe in what is most real. When you believe in Jesus Christ, all things happen for your good.