As he does every year, my dad writes all his grandkids letters from Santa on Christmas. These are some of my favorite words I read all year. 

Dear Grayson,

Well, here I am again! All I can say is “ho Ho ho”! You have had a really eventful year and I am glad I can leave you some gifts to celebrate.I see by your Permanent Record (I am one of the few who have access to it, given the naughty and nice analyses required by my work) that you have finished the first semester of the first grade! Grayson, what you have learned is remarkable and important, but it is those things that you continue to teach us that bring you honor and our appreciation. Your sweet spirit reminds us of how another recipient of tough circumstances, Mary, embraced the role that God gave her. Poor, with child, assailed by stiff-necked judgment, she proclaimed 

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,….

Luke 1: 46 – 47 (have your parents read on through verse 55. Lots of good blog material there.)

 Later, another group of stiff-necked Pharisees asked the child she bore about a blind man.

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

John 9:1-3

 Grayson, the greatest gift I can leave you with is to remind you that you were also born to magnify God, and that the works of God are most definitely displayed in you. The world will not go backward. Light will shine in the darkness and the rough places will be made straight.  

Your biggest fan,

Santa
Dear Charlotte, 

Well, once again I have accomplished the miracle of making it down a chimney half the diameter of my waistline. It’s like the promise of Christmas. The Lord of the Universe breaks through impossible separation to deliver the ultimate gift of His presence among us.

Soon you will be five, so you are old enough to begin knowing more about me. I am certainly not the Lord of the Universe, nor am I Christmas, although some people would like to assign me that role. I am simply an expression of, as the Victorians used to say, “good tidings” during this season of celebration. That’s why I am also around for Thanksgiving, Advent, Hannakah, Kwanza, and almost every year-end sales event in America. My favorite is Christ the King Sunday, the last day of the church liturgical calendar before it starts again with Advent. That’s when we look forward to the fulfillment of the Christmas promise, when

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4

So don’t tell me we shouldn’t celebrate “The Holidays”!  

Charlotte, you are one of the smartest and most articulate children on my list. You are a keen observer of life and a proclaimer of what you see. My earnest wish for you is what you see is truth and what you proclaim is promise. There will always be those who fear the future and would like us to retreat to the past. But every word of our Bible tells us differently. As long I leave you these Christmas letters I will remind you: The past is darkness and the future is Emmanuel, God With Us. That is good tidings!

 Love always,

Santa
Dear Nolan,
I have divided my list of all the children in the world into three categories of experience: Rookie, Apprentice and Veteran. With your infant and toddler Christmases behind you, congratulations on your promotion to Apprentice! You are now able to begin considering some deeper concepts – like The Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Second Law is about what things happen spontaneously and what outcomes require work. One thinks about that a lot when looking down on the world from a flying sleigh.

The good news for you is that the usual state of your play room is not your fault. The Second Law tells us that the inexorable direction of the universe is toward disorder! Putting the blocks back in the box requires work, and they will never stay there. Tell your parents that it’s not a mess, it’s energy minimizing diversity.

Nolan, there are lots of people in this world who want nothing more than to put the blocks back in the box. They want to build walls, hoard privilege, and define who is worthy of playing with the blocks and who is not. And they are working hard at it.

The problem for them, and the good news for the rest of us, is that the inevitable direction of the universe is Emmanuel, God With Us. God sent us a Savior to break down the wall that separated us from Her and to proclaim that the first shall be last and the last first. Salvation brings us God’s economy of abundance where there is plenty for everybody, and where compassion and grace are celebrated rather than feared . If that were not true, I would not be flying over all those walls with a bulging sack every year!

So Merry Christmas Nolan! Take these toys and spread them to the far corners of the earth! Continue adding your robust voice to the choir of angels! Diversity is our advantage! God is with us!

 Love,

Santa

Read all past Santa letters HERE.