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NASB | Deuteronomy 5:6 ¶ 'I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 5:6 ¶ 'I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. |
Subject: Santa Clause or Jesus Christ? or both? |
Bible Note: Au contraire, Doc, the anecdote rarely calls for apology, especially when it is used so aptly as yours was in your post. When our three children were very young, oh so many moons ago, my wife and I were young parents who made what I now view as a mistake in that we went along with the fable of Santa Claus. We were fortunte I suppose in escaping somehow the question your sister posed to your mom, "Then is Jesus a lie too?" For some reason our children seemed never to link the fable of Santa with the reality of Jesus. But looking backward, I can see the folly of teaching children to believe in Santa Claus. Inevitably parents will have to admit to their children the truth about Santa -- an admission that is tantamount to owning up to a lie. I'd much sooner take Santa out of Christmas than take Christ out of it! I've long sided with C. S. Lewis, who denounced what he called the commercial claptrap of secular Christmas. I find a great deal of sardonic humor in his observation that Christmas is a season when one buys gifts for people, some of whom he doesn't even like, largely out of a slavish sense of obligation -- useless gadgets and trinkets that no man in his right mind would ever think of buying for himself. I'm old enough now to be relatively free of the compulsion to make a fool of myself by "making a list and checking it twice" and otherwise engaging in the garish festivities of secular Christmas. Christmas, if it is celebrated by Christians, ought to be Christ centered, not Santa Claus centered. The treasured gift of Christmas is the Son of God, not the gift bought at the marketplace and wrapped in dazzling paper and ribbon. In summary, I see no potential harm that could ever befall parent or child as a result of being absolutely honest and truthful -- whose relationship from the beginning is dedicated to telling the truth about all things. Even Santa Claus. ...... The Christmastide carol should be "For unto us a Child is born," not "Santa Claus is coming to town." --Hank |