It all started with eccentric Mr. Morgan, my high school English teacher. Everyone knew this guy marched to a different drummer. He was almost fired for refusing to wear a tie, but the students protested and he was spared. He was a Christian and become one of my first mentors. One day (I don’t recall the topic at hand), he blurted out something disturbing which I have never forgotten: “None of you know what you would be capable of doing to each other under the right conditions.” This struck me like lightning and I suspected, deep inside, that he was right. I resolved that I would never be one of those people. He couldn’t be talking about me. He told me once that he felt I had potential, more words I have never forgotten. While the rest of the high school administration made me feel like a crazy person or a criminal, he was one who instilled confidence in me.
Mr. Morgan was the first person I ever heard talk about raising his children without the Santa Claus myth. The idea was revolutionary to me and I nurtured it in my mind until I had my own child. I wanted to tell him from the very beginning the truth about Santa. Fortunately, my husband was onboard. At the earliest opportunity, we told him there is no Santa and it was all just a silly story. His presents come from us, no creepy guy sneaks down the chimney while you’re sleeping and how could reindeer fly when they don’t have wings? He was fine with all that and became a very bright and challenging little boy, the kind who drives you crazy, constantly asking “Why?”
Of course the inevitable happened. He got into Santa arguments with children at school and I thought, “Oh no, I’m gonna get a call one of these days.” It never happened. The other kids just stuck to their guns and thought he was crazy. No problem. That was that. He is now grown up and has thanked us many times for raising him without Santa.
Since I have spent many years cultivating an “anti-Santa” attitude, when I hear parents hailing his praises or see the guy at the mall, it seems so strange…so irrelevant and inappropriate to the celebration of the Birth of Our Lord. It reminds me of the words of Fr. Alfred Delp, who I discussed briefly in a recent post, words which are also of great value in our present situation:
"Other values of secondary importance impose themselves, making life inauthentic and bringing it under an alien law and an alien paradigm."
Please pray for dear Mr. Morgan, wherever he is:)
