Wednesday, December 2, 2015

December 2: Believe


"Mom, who ate the cookies and drank the milk? 
Did Daddy do it?  
How can Santa get to all the houses, in all the world in one night?
It's amazing that one person can do that! 
Is he even real?"
We were in the car this morning and I knew I needed to choose my answers carefully.  Do I bold face lie and answer "why, Santa did my darling!" or do I crush all the Christmas magic and say "you're right, Daddy did it!" 
In my coolest and calm voice I said "well, what do you think?"
Maggie Bell, delightfully innocence, said "of course he's weal!"
Libby was quiet, and then, "Brynn said that his name is St. Nicolas and he lived a long a time ago."  "Is he alive now, Mom?"
I hope that it's not wrong that I don't have the heart to answer her.  I'm not ready yet.  I want her to stay where she is.
"What do you think?" is my go-to answer I guess.
But I can see her standing on the edge of make believe.  A time where fairies are fully real and are surely hiding in the afternoon light in our backyard.  Every Disney princess story is as real as the troll that lives under the bridge at the end of our road, and yes Santa can make it from Istanbul to Virginia Beach and everywhere else in one night.
One day, all on her own, she leave this magical time.  She'll wake up one morning to face reality and realize that it has almost as many questions as make-believe.
An angel talked to Mary?  Did she know it was the angel of the Lord?  Was he glowing?  How big was the star?   Where did the star go?  Why can't we see it now?  What is a heavenly host?  Shepherds in a field were afraid because they were surrounded by heavenly light, are we sure it wasn't aliens?  She got pregnant how? How is that even possible????  God was a baby, and he is Jesus, who is the Holy Spirit? And how do I make sense of these stories?
And it a choice that I have to make daily that my faith in the One, is stronger than my human intuition and reason.
Believe in the coming King!
Of course He's weal.  

As for my clever girl, for tonight, I think she's sticking with the stories in her mind and choosing to believe! 

Happy Christmas

2 comments:

Sandra said...

Libby is probably thinking it is safest to let you think she believes in Santa but she obviously is not quite sure. I'm surprised she didn't ask why Santa comes to VA Beach one night and to Baltimore the next!

Art Teacher's Mom said...

Libby looks so pretty in the photos.
I'm not a deep thinker as others are.
I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
If Libby does ask why Santa comes to
VA Beach and then Baltimore...he's
working his way north...back home. :)