Why Santa is Alive and Well Over Here

It's been a while since I wrote about anything controversial. Should we touch on this one? Sounds fun.

Today I overheard a lady I don't know telling a little boy—not her little boy, but just a little boy—that Santa doesn't come to her house. She buys enough toys for her kids, she said, and that's enough. They don't need anything extra from Santa because she and her husband work hard.

She looked down her nose at the little boy—something I've read in fiction books but never actually seen anyone do. She spoke patronizingly. She spoke loudly enough for me and everyone else waiting for tithing settlement to hear. It made me completely bonkers.

Listen. I've heard people say they don't do Santa because he (spoiler alert!) turns out to not be their idea of real, and they're afraid it will shatter their kids' belief in anything else they can't see (i.e. Jesus Christ). I get it. But I feel very strongly that skipping Santa altogether completely disregards the value of symbols and deprives kids of a valuable learning experience.

Especially in a church that highly values symbols (i.e. mine), we need to understand allegory and metaphor. You don't have to look very hard to see how the Santa Story is the perfect symbol for Jesus Christ and His message. (I borrowed a bit from this book, but many ideas are mine. And Ryan's.).

Santa brings good gifts—gifts he knows we want and need. But we have to ask first. It's the perfect parallel to gifts of the Spirit. We have to seek them from the giver of all good gifts.

He wears red. So does the Savior. Matthew 27:27-28 gives the account: "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe." Modern revelation touches on this same sign. Doctrine and Covenants 133:46-48 reads, " And it shall be said: Who is this that cometh down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not known, clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? And he shall say: I am he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save. And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat." And then there's the simple parallel—the color red is an important symbol of the atonement.

We look forward to his coming and try to be good. Jesus Christ will come again. We will be judged. But we know if we try our very best to be good, it will be enough.

He comes in the night. "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." —1 Thessalonians 5:2

He loves children. When children sit on Santa's lap, it makes me think of Christ's coming to the Americas. In 3 Nephi 17, He called the children to him and blessed them one by one. And the gift he gave them in doing so was so much better than all the Red Ryder BB Guns in the world, even if that's the best way we know how to symbolize it.

He has a lot of helpers. Santa has elves and parents to help him do his work. Christ has prophets and both seen and unseen angels to help Him answer our prayers.

He brings good cheer. He's a jolly old man. Christ brings happiness, peace and joy.

He teaches that bad behavior has consequences. If you're good, you get gifts. If you're bad, you get a lump of coal. Coal feeds a fire, which is a worldwide symbol for Hell. A stretch? Maybe. But still true.

He loves all the children in the world, but he makes time to visit each home one by one. We don't know how He does it, but He has the power to do so. He loves us individually even with billions of people to love and care for. Sometimes he has helpers. Mom and Dad help Santa at our house considerably. I hope we're helping the Savior as well.

I was embarrassingly old before I learned that The Good Samaritan wasn't real. He's part of a parable that teaches us about the Plan of Salvation and about a loving God who will stop and help all of us who are sick and wounded on the side of the road.

I know a lot of people still disagree with me and don't want to lie to their kids by telling them Santa Claus is a real person. That's absolutely, positively more than fine. I just wanted to say that we have our reasons for choosing to play the Santa game with our children, just like others have their reasons for choosing not to.

When I finally figured out that The Good Samaritan wasn't a direct account of actual events, I knew that was never the point. It's a story to help me better understand my Savior.

So this Christmas and every Christmas for the next who-knows-how-many years, my girls will learn a little more about the Savior every year as they try to be good, look forward to his coming, and seek good gifts. I hope that when they learn Santa is one of the many Good Samaritans we have to help us learn, they will understand the lessons a little more deeply because of how elaborate the object lesson was.

I know I did. And because I believe in Jesus Christ, I still believe in Santa Claus.