I recall a cool December day many years ago. I’m driving toward home with my oldest son in the passenger seat beside me, just the two of us in the car. He’s probably 5 or 6 years old. He asks the question all parents of young children expect at this time of year:
“Hey dad, is there really a Santa Clause?â€
I take a minute to gather my thoughts, and answer very thoughtfully. I carefully and artfully walk us through a discussion of how much fun it is to believe in Santa Clause. We talk about how the idea of Santa Clause is a really nice reflection of many of the things that are good to celebrate this time of year, things like the gift of light returning to us, and the gift of G-d’s presence in our life.
Regardless of whether or not there’s an actual and factual Santa Clause, we agree, it’s still a great deal of fun to pretend he exists. We agree that the little traditions associated with Christmas Eve are made more fun by pretending there’s a thing called Santa Clause. We smile at how nice it is to see the cookies on the fireplace half-eaten in the morning, even if it was dad who took the bites out of the cookies to make it look like Santa was there.
I’m convinced it’s a brilliant performance on my part, and I’m glowing with the warm realization that I’ve shared an important lesson with Jesse about the value that sometimes exists in the art of suspended disbelief. Jesse seems to have gotten the message completely. He seems absorbed in the ideas we’ve discussed, and seems buoyant with the thought that he’s been initiated one more step toward growing up. He gets to understand something in a very adult way.
Our discussion ends as we pull into our driveway. I shut off the car, turn to him, and ask if he’s enjoyed the conversation. Does he feel like he understands the conversation?
Oh sure, he replies, he understands the conversation. It was neat.
Well, does he have any more questions, I ask?
“Just oneâ€, he replies, “So is there really a Santa Clause or not?â€
There’s a time for ambiguity. There’s a time to explore shades of gray. When you’re 5 or 6 years old investigating one of the most important questions you’ve yet confronted in life, ambiguity doesn’t fit into the world you’re trying to understand.
Yes or no. All the blah blah blah in the middle is nice, and maybe educational, but a yes or no question sometimes deserves a yes or no answer…
The Santa Revelation v1 – http://t.co/k2CFLzY1
The Santa Revelation v1 – http://t.co/k2CFLzY1
This clause was most famously challenged in the case Santa v. Robinsons. In 1963 the Robinson family of Akron, Ohio gave Santa crackers and a Pepsi while also as not providing his reindeer with water. Subsequently, Santa gave the family coal in their stocking. The family took Santa to court over this and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court . The court ruled in favor of Santa with a vote of 8 to 1. The only dissenting vote was by Earl Warren. All justice Warren said in this dissenting opinion was “You guys still believe in Santa?” . Shortly thereafter Earl Warren’s body was found floating in his pool. His death is believed to result from tripping over a small dog that had run in front of Mr. Warren at a rather inopportune time. The police, having nothing to go on except a note nailed to his back saying “Now do you believe, motherfucker? From Santa”, concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove that his death was anything more than an unfortunate small dog accident .
This clause was most famously challenged in the case Santa v. Robinsons. In 1963 the Robinson family of Akron, Ohio gave Santa crackers and a Pepsi while also as not providing his reindeer with water. Subsequently, Santa gave the family coal in their stocking. The family took Santa to court over this and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court . The court ruled in favor of Santa with a vote of 8 to 1. The only dissenting vote was by Earl Warren. All justice Warren said in this dissenting opinion was “You guys still believe in Santa?†. Shortly thereafter Earl Warren’s body was found floating in his pool. His death is believed to result from tripping over a small dog that had run in front of Mr. Warren at a rather inopportune time. The police, having nothing to go on except a note nailed to his back saying “Now do you believe, motherfucker? From Santa”, concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove that his death was anything more than an unfortunate small dog accident .