BETTER THAN SANTA [Sa, 12-24-22]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter: BETTER THAN SANTA [Sa, 12-24-22]

 

I post this every Christmas, not just because it features my favorite granddaughter--although that is enough reason for a grandpa--but because it is the best explanation of Christmas that I know.

As Christmas approached when Brigid was four years old, she said to her mother, “You know, Santa and Grandpa are a lot alike. Santa has a bald head, and Grandpa has a bald head. Santa has a white beard, and Grandpa has a white beard. Santa brings toys, and Grandpa brings toys. But Grandpa is better, because he stays and plays.”

That is the message of Christmas, the birth of Christ into the world. God is not just some Santa, hurrying across the roof of the world, stopping long enough to throw some goodies down the chimney. In Jesus, the Christ, God stays, and plays.

John Robert McFarland

The pic is from the web, even though it does look quite a bit like Brigid and me.