| RANDOM
NOTES ON SANTA AND CHRISTMAS
I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see
him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.
-- Shirley Temple
Santa Claus wears a Red Suit, He must be a communist. And a beard
and long hair, Must be a pacifist. What's in that pipe that he's
smoking?
--Arlo Guthrie
Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit everyone once a year.
--Victor Borges
The parent who gets down on the floor to play with a child on Christmas
Day is usually doing a most remarkable thing -- something seldom
repeated during the rest of the year. These are, after all, busy
parents committed to their work or their success in the larger society,
and they do not have much left-over time in which to play with their
children.
--Brian Sutton-Smith
|
FROM
MIKE FURCHES
There are some fascinating spiritual scenarios in the film that
are worthy of note. The process of faith (belief) is critical to
the story itself. The character has to come to the task of deciding
what to believe and what not to believe. His entire life will be
influenced by his decision, and he will be forced to endure the
results. Along the way, a character who provides the way to and
from the North Pole I found to be like Jesus in many regards. He
was the deliverer; he was the one that the boy had to answer to.
After giving an invitation to get on the train, he did not force
any child to make the decision, the decision was theirs to make.
This character was sent to serve and help people. He is loving most
of the time, but can be stern when need be. This character is all
about serving, delivering and helping those that he was sent to
serve and deliver.
 Another
character with spiritual components was the Hobo or Ghost. Like
the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, this character is there to give insight
to the boy, to answer questions, to help him along the journey to
make the right decisions. When needing to be caught from the grips
of death, the Spirit was there; when needing to have information
on how to stop a runaway train, the Spirit was there to give advice
to the boy. The boy has to respond and make his own decisions even
here, but the Spirit knows how to relate.
 Then
there is the character of Santa Claus. He gives gifts and everyone
is at the North Pole to worship and to serve him. He brings about
wonderful scenes of praise and glory, while at the same time demanding
reverence. There is even the “heavenly choir” filled
with elves that resemble angels. A fun point of this is that the
choir at one point is led by band mate and leader Steven Tyler from
Aerosmith. This Santa Claus character has as his desire the need
to give gifts specifically to humans. He sees all, he knows all,
he even gives second chances when need be, but will ultimately make
a judgment regarding each individual on the planet.
Each
child along the journey has challenges and obstacles to overcome.
There are ample illustrations of the roller coaster of life that
many of us live on, and I couldn’t help --while watching this
movie-- thinking of the song "People Get Ready", "There’s
a Train a'Coming." The truth is, one of the things that make
this story so brilliant is that it is an analogy of not just Santa
Claus and Christmas but for the very reason that Christmas exists.
The reason as best described in John 3:16; “For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes
in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” |
