James was now on a roll, he thought for a minute and said, "Well, what about Santa Claus? ..... Yah right, how could anyone live at the North Pole?"
Sadly I said, "Santa Claus does not exist. Mommy and I buy you the presents".
My daughter Emily who was quietly observing this exchange looked into my eyes and in a whispered voiced asked "For real"?
"Santa Claus doesn't really exist", I repeated softly.
Emily jumped from my lap, rushed to her bedroom and returned with a letter from Santa Claus that she received the previous year. "Then how did I get this letter?" she said triumphantly, trying desperately to maintain her grip on Santa.
I slowly explained her that the Post Office responds to children's letters on Santa Claus stationary that they print. She struggled to try to understand why the federal government, using taxpayers money, would conspire to delude children into believing that kids can get something for free from a chubby elf for being nice, not naughty.
The anger grew in her quickly as she cast he gaze on her hapless little brother. "You idiot", she screamed, "Why did you have ask these stupid questions? Who cares if Robert thinks you're a baby. It was fun waiting for Santa to bring presents. Now we won't have any fun at Christmas."
Visibly shaken by the logic and the force of her argument, James took a step back. He reluctantly agreed that believing in Santa Claus was fun. We all reminisced about past Christmas mornings when we saw the half-eaten cookie and the empty class of milk in front of the fireplace (caught on videotape).
"Look Santa was here" James said last Christmas. "How can you tell?", I asked "He ate the cookie and drank the milk" James responded logically, never suspecting, in his naiveté, that his parents would shamelessly deceive him.
We all agreed that it was fun to believe in Santa Claus and we would not ruin Christmas for any kids who still believed in Santa.
However, James had one last question, "What about God?
I was feeling cornered and unprepared. Our missionary friends had given Emily a picture book of the Bible that she quickly put aside. She said it did not make any sense since there was no mention Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus or any other dinosaur. She now seemed to be steeling herself to the news that even God did not exist.
I explained carefully that I thought there was a God, but that no one living today has ever seen or talked to God. However, if we have a shoe, we have to have a shoemaker to make the shoe. If we have a table, we have to have a carpenter to make the table. Finally, if we have the Sun, the Earth and the Moon, someone has to make them and that is God.
They both seemed to be happy with that explanation and went out to play.
Peter Stajov
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