One Santa’s Story
I walked into the meeting last Saturday and immediately
caught the eye of a man who already was headed my way. He was wearing a bright red vest over an
ample frame. With his white hair and
beard and infectious smile he reminded me of someone. Hmmm.
He came right to me and with a beaming smile extended his hand. I saw there was something in his palm but you
could not help but trust him, so I grasped his hand firmly. My hand closed around a tiny plastic figure. “I just want to share a little Jesus with you
today!” he exclaimed with a chuckle. I
looked at it. Sure enough, the sash
across the figure’s chest said “Jesus ‘heart’ you”. I smiled.
“I’ll tell you more about it in a minute,” he promised. It turned out that he was our speaker for the
morning. Even if I could have formulated
a question in that brief moment, he was already off to greet the next person
who was coming through the door.
The man later introduced himself as Doug. Doug, no surprise to me by this time, said
that he was one of Santa’s many helpers.
Doug has been helping Santa bring the joy of Christmas to others for the
past thirty years. He didn’t say it, but
with his build and clothes and white hair and beard, it is obvious that Doug
lives Santa year-round.
For Doug, this all started thirty years ago. A co-worker asked him if he would come to his
house on Christmas Eve for his two little girls. The man had purchased a full Santa suit the
year before but his oldest daughter expressed some doubt about Santa’s
authenticity. “Aren’t you my daddy?”
This year he didn’t want to take the chance of being found out, so the plan was
for Doug to sneak in when the girls went upstairs to get ready for bed, and to
be by the Christmas tree in the living room as the girls came back downstairs. Doug was then supposed to hurry out the front
door. No contact, no dialogue. It seemed easy enough. “I was so nervous and scared that I would
mess up that as soon as I heard a noise on the stair landing I ran out the
front door so fast that the girls almost didn’t even catch sight of me.” But, on his drive home, and after his heartbeat
settled a bit, he chuckled to himself. “This
is fun,” he thought. A car or two honked
at him as they recognized the driver from the north. Doug smiled and waved back; the role was taking him in.
For twenty years, Doug “played” Santa at many community
events and he loved it. He loved the
gift giving and the smiles of the children.
But he explained that about ten years ago, everything changed for him. He was participating in a men’s event at his
parish on a Saturday morning in early November.
As the event closed, there was a moment of prayer. Men were sharing different personal
intentions, and then one of them caught Doug by surprise when he said, “I’d
like to pray for Doug and his Santa ministry”.
Ministry? Is what I do a
ministry?
Doug received the answer to his question the next weekend. His first official Santa visit of the season
was at a local elder care facility. There
was the usual big celebration with gifts and making merry. The manager them asked Doug if he would visit
the residents in the memory care unit.
Of course he would. Santa Doug
went to each person of the memory care unit who were gathered together in their
lounge area. Some even recognized the
jolly old elf and smiled. Then, one of
the nurses asked, “Before you go, Santa can you please see Arnie? He’s in his room. All his family is there because Arnie is
dying; it won’t be long now.”
The family smiled and nodded welcomes to Doug as he appeared
at Arnie’s door, and they made room for him.
Doug went up to Arnie’s bedside.
He grabbed Arnie’s limp hand. “Arnie,
I hear that you’re going to see Jesus very soon. When you get there please remember to put in
a good word for your family members who are with you today. And Arnie, could you please put in a good
word for Santa, too?” Arnie squeezed
Doug’s hand.
Arnie’s son followed Doug out of the room. “Did dad squeeze your hand just there?” he
asked. “Yes he did.” “That’s the only kind of response that anyone
has had from him in the last four months.
We are all so thankful for your ministry and taking the time to be with
us. Merry Christmas, Santa!” “Merry Christmas”.
Doug went out to his pickup truck. He decorates it for Christmas. “I knew I had to deal with all of that before
I made my next stop because that was going to be full of children expecting a
happy Santa. So, I just let it out – I cried
and sobbed for half an hour.” If Santa is real, why wouldn't he cry at times like these?
“It was then that I fully appreciated my calling to the
ministry of Santa. Now I always make
sure to tell everyone about the Christ child and the true meaning of Christmas. This is the way that I have been called to
evangelize.”
Not that I have ever really doubted, but I was thankful to
be reminded that Santa always was real and that he became even more real that day
when Arnie believed, and squeezed Santa’s hand.
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
PS: I asked permission from Doug to share his
story. I thought about saving this for
next December, but then I remembered that we always say that Christmas should
be lived all year. As the song says, “We
need a little Christmas, right this very minute. We need a little Christmas right now!” So, even though it’s March, and spring is here, “Merry Christmas
to All!”
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