posted on December 10, 2002 04:29:25 PM newVicar tells children Santa is dead
Wow, talk about insensitive! A vicar in England told the kids in his congregation that Santa is dead. Not only that, but borrowing from facts posted on the Net, he also told them that Santa's reindeer would burst into flames if they had to travel at the speeds necessary to reach every household on the planet in one night.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2562109.stm
posted on December 17, 2002 12:15:24 AM new
Hmmmm The vicar in ENGLAND go figure
Here is an Interview with Santa
Question How many Santas there are?
Answer Only one, that's me. However, there are two categories of humans who go under the name of Santa:
1. My helpers. A helper is a person who delivers the true message of Christmas and/or presents to children.
2. Fake Santas. They are either commercial or national sort and the common trait is that they convey either partially or completely false message, commercial, nationalistic etcetera. They may also claim to be the only right Santa. But they do not act in the spirit of Christ.
Answer In the North Pole. But do not think that this necessarily means the physical geograpic North Pole, although I have been there, too. Actually I am living now in Cyberspace mainly. This suits me enormously well. Fast and modern. And I can reach to the hearts of people more easily.
Answer I have two kinds of spiritual helpers. Flying reindeer and elven. The Reindeer transport me and my luggage around the world. The elves help me year around to cater for my duties. My first lieutenant is my Chief Elf. Furthermore I have human helpers, people who feel the presence of the Child and Santa in their hearts.
Question What are the names of the Flying Reindeer?
Answer Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Donder, Blitzen, Cupid and Comet. Rudolph is the lead reindeer. Donder is also known as Donner.Note that in different languages they have different names. This is English only.
Answer Yes, indeed it is. And it is shining, The reason to this phenomenon is unclear but we feel that He is a sensitive animal and reacts to the weather in Cyberspace.
Answer Well, no red noses. But Blixen is fast and Dancer likes a little step now and then. Cupid is the humorist of the bunch. All of them are good fliers which is really essential in this business. Being magical creatures they like Internet too, BTW.
Answer Well, as I said, they are magical creatures. And they are supposed to be strictly on diet. But if you leave carrots and home made cookies (preferably made by kids) on the table for Christmas night, you will notice that they have mysteriously disappeared in the morning...
Answer Oh, look at my picture. I'd eat anything, including bytes and bits and get more fat, unfortunately. But if you insist, please leave an egg nogg for me for Chistmas, that'll do.
Answer Yes I am, to a degree. If people believe in me, I exist. If there is no belief, I am discontinued. But I have seen that there are more demand on me than ever, in this everchanging and risky world.
Answer Two thousand years, give or take a couple of years. When the Child was given the First Christmas Presents, I was there. And I have done my duty continuously thereafter.
Answer Well, by experimentation. If you look at my older pictures (elsewhere on my server) you will see that I had different types of coats and caps during the centuries. But I had a couple of gifted human helpers a little over hundred years ago and they adviced me to use red coat and cap, lined with fur (which is nowadays artificial).
Answer I do not know what you mean by that. I am not political for certain. I am not commercial either. I exist to give and to spread the ideology of mutual giving, that has been my policy for well nigh two thousand years. Giving involves taking and the kids learn that before they learn the giving part. But both actions are involved.
Question Where did the Elves and Reindeer come from?
Answer Come now, that's classified information. I can only say that in the Magical Kingdom, which is in the minds of children, there lives many kinds of beings, good and bad. My helpers are the good ones and they fight for good and some of them are very formidable indeed.
Question How can you deliver all the goods you are supposed to give, in one night?
Answer Well, there are local timing differences. In Europe I'll come on Christmas Eve, in America in the Night. I have my helpers. And first and foremost I have the Magic. Kids understand this naturally.
posted on December 18, 2002 09:14:14 AM new
Just received an email with this Christmas Story. Made me think of this thread. Hope it doesn't offend anyone. To me it shows the true meaning of Christmas.
A Christmas Story
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.
I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through it's doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.
I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs.Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he had no good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat.
I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.
Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.
posted on December 18, 2002 10:42:08 AM new
Adults get a bigger kick out of Santa than the kids. It allows adults to act like kids with imaginary play. If you tell kids, let's pretend there is a Santa, they will have the same fun whether you lie to them or tell the truth.
There's nothing wrong with developing a child's imagination honestly, and by doing it honestly, it opens the door of the mind to think, and that's what our world needs is more thinkers.
posted on December 18, 2002 11:14:51 AM new
quickdraw - So true.
Many parents dread the day when their little one is told 'there is no Santa'. Happened to our 6 year old nephew this year. My sister called and was so upset for exactly the reasons you mention. She didn't know if she should lie or confirm what they'd said to him. I just shared that when this happened to our sons our answer was, "Well...if you don't believe...he may not visit." And we've long had a sign that we put out front that says, "We Still Believe". Children make Christmas even more fun.
Children make Christmas even more fun.