Trust is the most important value between a parent and child; and truth is the most important value for a man or woman. Fortunately for us as parents, trust is given to us blindly by our children. Unfortunately it is easy to betray that trust unintentionally.
I have seen many parents talk to their children about Santa Clause, without believing in Santa Clause themselves. For many of those parents learning that Santa didn’t exist when they were children was one of the worst experiences of their lives. That awful moment made them pessimistic about everything faith based for the rest of their lives. Yet they still teach their own children the same thing, and put them through the same experience because it is what their parents did. I can’t imagine believing in magic, and then having that belief ripped from your heart by the people I blindly and whole heartedly trust.
I thank God that I believe in Santa Clause at the age of 31. I thank God for allowing me to understand it so that when I speak to my children I am speaking the truth. I tell them that Santa Clause is the face of the spirit of Christmas, generosity, and compassion. He is the gift that St. Nick left for this world long after he physically left it.
In this day and age of technology and science, we believe more and more that we know so much about everything. We understand how things work. Well, just because we understand how something works doesn’t make it any less magical. Certain people were created for the soul purpose of putting satellites in space, and making communication possible through out the world that seems like magic to me.
I for one am so glad that magic is so easy to find. Have you ever seen the immaculate reception from Franco Harris in the AFC divisional playoffs against the Oakland Raiders? That bit of self taught magic was the turning point for The Pittsburgh Steelers who in 4 decades had never won a playoff game. Those few magical seconds lead the Steelers to win 4 Super bowls before the end of the decade. A polluted steal town became known as the city of champions. The city as a whole completely cleaned itself up after that. It knew what pride felt like. That was no doubt a gift from above. Franco Harris being in that time in that place with that talent was a gift.
Do not betray your kids, and teach them what you believe. Don’t lie to them. You want your kids to come to you with problems; they need you to be on their side even when they are wrong. They need to be able to come to you when they know they made a mistake. They need you to show them how to work magic.
“Truth is the sum of honor and courage; lies are the product of fear, the substance of evil.”
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