Luke 2. Now with bonus verses!
Let’s pick up with verse 18:
18. And all they that heard it wondered at those things that were told them by the shepherds.
18a. And Joseph looked up and saw a man who came unto them in the manger. And he was sore afraid, for the man was of great girth and much ruddiness of face and clothing.
18b. And the man knelt before the babe, with much groaning a cause of his much roundness.
18c. And the shepherds were vexed, for they saw the fear in Mary’s eyes, and they pleaded with the stranger to make haste. They saith unto him.
18d. Surely thou canst see that thou belongest not in the manger, for thou art a work of fiction. Why wouldst thou diminish this great event with thy beard white as snow and dimples so merry? For thou art fat, and thine eyes, they twinklest.
18e. And the large man arose and said, Be not afraid, for I come to justify my own existence in the eyes of those that are at war with themselves – they are they who desireth to enjoy both the traditions of the season, and the worship of the holy child. Yet these feel the scorn of the pious who call me evil. For in that day, many comprehendeth not that the the birth can be a time of sacred worship, yet also a joyous time of grand traditions. And thus they cheateth their children, that they know not the joy of Saint Nicholas.
18f. And the shepherds came upon him with their staffs and demanded that he depart, saying, We knowest that thou art not a saint. See! Thou haseth not a halo. Go ye back to the land northward and botherest no more this child, or any other child. Alas! Make haste! Look! Thine reindeer eateth the manger!
18g. And with much sadness, the man departed with his animals into the night sky, causing great commotion with the heavenly choir; and they in the manger rejoiced.
19. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Personal note:
I am Pro-Jesus
I am Pro-Santa
I know some of you disagree. That is OK with me.
I know Santa is not real, just as Mr. Krueger, the littlest angel, and the little drummer boy are all fictitious.
I love what Christ represents.
I love what Santa represents.
I know that without Santa, we wouldn’t have “Elf”, and that would be wrong.
I do believe that the “Island of MIsfit Toys” is an actual place.
So…
Worship Jesus. Have fun with Santa. But please don’t force them into some convoluted “time-warp mash-up”
Just my thoughts. Thankfully, you are free to think differently.
ROFL! This is great. Thank you for redirecting a new reader to this post!
It was on purpose. I know manger is the actual feeding trough, but I liked the idea of the reindeer eating the manger – because “manger” is the infinitive of the verb “to eat” in French.
Nice to know you read carefully.
By “manger” do you mean “stable”?
Amen brother!
PS I just saw an inflatable Outhouse with Santa popping out the door for sale at Home Depot. TGR, I wonder if your mom’s neighbors have that one?!
Hear, hear! or is it Here, here!
Either way I concur.
Elf=one of the best Christmas movies ever made.
And you should totally get a job writing scripture!
Those verses made me laugh. As did the comment above by Twinmomwv.
My life wasn’t ruined, nor my belief in the Savior diminished when I learned the truth about Santa. There’s no danger in believing in him and it makes me sad to see how militant some people are about trying to ruin this fun holiday tradition that comes with a really beautiful history.
The Island of Misfit Toys does exist. It is the island of Manhattan.
Uh-oh! It looks like some of you are missing the point of my post. Sorry if it wasn’t clear enough.
My point was that I am fine with having both Santa & Jesus, but I don’t like it when people make comparisons between the two. You are comparing the Lord of our universe to a fictional elf with a word of wisdom problem. Jesus deserves better. Celebrate both in their appropriate way, but don’t make them exist in the same universe. They can’t. That is my point, and my plea.
I fully agree with you! Do you know of the book I believe in Santa Clause. It compares the Savior to Santa- both will come in red, both come in the night, both love children and and know when we are good and bad! it’s a super simple book, but if you teach it to children it’s wonderful!
Here Here! I have both of them in my yard and they CAN peacefully coexist. As long as it doesn’t get too windy…
Sandy
Mr. Krueger is fictitious?!!
I really don’t like “Elf”. At all. That being said, I love Santa. I love the anonymity of the giving. My kids get everything they have from me. This one time of the year their dreams can come true and practical mom doesn’t have a say in anything Santa may or may not do for them. Santa gives without even needing a “Thank You.” I believe in Santa Claus. I’ve never seen him. But someone comes in the night and gives gifts to the kids. And that person calls himself Santa. So be it. And I have certainly been the recipient of many, many anonymous gifts at Christmas time even as an adult. They don’t always come on Christmas Eve, but I don’t think there has been a single Christmas in at least 12 years where my family and I haven’t received some gift from Santa. And all this love and gift-giving and thoughtfulness is done in the name of Christ. I love it.
You are making me feel guilty for telling my 10 year old there is no Santa so I could get credit for all the gifts…(there is a lot more to the story than the credit for gifts…but it was a factor…Does that make me a bad person?)
Thanks Debra for pointing out the sleigh-I totally missed it and needed a good laugh! 🙂
I love this blog! Whenever I am taking things to seriously I stop on by your blog. 🙂
Yes, the Island of Misfit toys is an actual place…
Amen to your well spoken thoughts!
As always, thank you for sharing!
Well said. I think both can coexist together.
What’s with Santa and his reindeer in the upper right hand corner of the blog heading/banner thing? LOL 😀
Jocelyn and #2 commenter:
Yes, I am aware of the story, and how the picture does NOT suggest Santa was at the birth. However, there are lots of little ceramics and other paintings that convey that implication that he was there – with no context. Perhaps confusing to kids who aren’t familiar with the book. (As pointed out – the picture I used clearly shows the modern house, and you can’t even see the Winter Warlock)
Starting the slow clapping now…
The reindeer eating the manger…instant classic!
Also now I know why you were so anti pics of Santa with baby Jesus….it represents Santa’s nod to the Savior while on his yearly route not Santa’s appearance at the first Christmas….but commenter #2 already pointed that out…great comment by the way!
My husband “gets” to read the Luke story at our ward Christmas party….Would anyone notice if we slipped in your profound words?
amen…to your personal note…
I found out that Santa wasn’t real when I asked a girl on the playground why she was crying. She said that her pastor had said that Santa killed God. So I went home from school crying to my parents. My parents then had to explain that Santa wasn’t real and that God can’t die. Moral of the story: children don’t understand metaphors. lol
Anonymous: Please videotape the event and send it to me. Pretty please!
Cheryl: Too funny! Christmas in April? Not so far-fetched. Sometimes our RS has Christmas in July.
Sostinkin’: Thanks for the open-ended incite. Don’t be surprised if we show up.
Thank you! It’s not that hard to keep the Santa stuff and the Jesus stuff separate. And kids aren’t stupid –they know the difference, too, especially if mom/dad take the time to explain the TRUTH of Jesus and the FUN of Santa. Besides, Santa is all about giving, joy, happiness, laughter, service. I’m pretty sure Jesus likes those things.
I have so many online friends now who admit they refuse to “lie” about Santa because lying is bad and it taints Christmas with lying. And consumerism. And their kids will know better! Dude –Jesus was born in APRIL. If we wanna be all perfectly truthful, we’d boycott the entire season and celebrate it when He was actually born. So, I say, whatever.
I love Christmas and Santa and all the silly Santa movies. But in recent years I have become disturbed by the idea that without Santa there will be no Christmas. That is what all the Santa movies say. “Save Santa, Believe in him and you will be happy”. Our secular world leaves no room for Christ. Santa is the only socially acceptable figure these days. Some of the older movies seemed to unite Santa with the true spirit of Christmas. Modern movies do not. That makes me really sad.
Exactly! I grew up with a mom who is pretty much anti-Santa, and although I don’t feel deprived, and enjoyed my childhood, I like our much more relaxed, happy attitude about Santa that we have in our family now. And how could you not love Elf? Impossible, I say.
Christmas Eve is going to be a blast this year when I add Santa and these verses to the play…
Love it! Thanks for the smile this morning!
Deliciously (as good as egg nog) funny. My favorite part? The reindeer gnawing on the manger.
About ten years ago, my mother somehow convinced all of us adult children and spouses to do a live nativity scene on Christmas Eve in the front yard of their house. We were each assigned a part (naturally, I was the angel) and even brought in bales of hay and a couple of farm goats for an added “authentic” effect. She invited her entire ward to come over and reverently partake of the scene (with Handel’s Messiah playing quietly in the background) then enjoy some cookies and hot chocolate on their way out. There was a little bit of mumbling over the whole thing (we thought our days of being embarrassed by Mom and her wacky ideas were over when we got married and moved out of the house) but in the end, we dutifully fulfilled our roles and it turned out to be a rather memorable event, both for us as a family as well as the ward members who came out to see us. I can’t help but wonder, though, how the same scene would go over if it were held in the yard of my parents’ present home. You see, the folks next door erect no less than 10 or 12 of those huge, inflatable lit-up Christmas doofers in their front yard. They have everything from Santa Claus and his reindeers to the Grinch to enormous scarf-adorned penguins. Somehow, I don’t think Mom’s nativity scene next door would have quite the same effect.
Amen and hallestinkinlujah, MMM. You and yours are welcome to join us for Sunday dinner any time. Of course the menu will consist of “the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”
I grew up with the fat man in the red suit but my hubby didn’t. His mom feels that it’s lying to your children and was scarred by finding out the truth during her own childhood. When I found out the truth, my mom explained that even though Santa doesn’t really come to our home each Christmas, that he represents Heavenly Father in that he wants us to be good and give us blessings for it. Good enough for me.
And “smiling’s my favorite.” 🙂
You had me at 18a but the clincher was “Elf.” Another missing scripture: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Hymns, of course.
I agree with this post. Who doesn’t like Elf? 🙂
It’s about moderation. In our countdown we have make presents to give to others, read the Christmas Story, make a manager scene, see Christmas lights.
As long as the kids understand the real meaning is about Jesus but we like to celebrate with trees, presents, lights, etc then I think we have it good.
And I tell my kids, I love to get presents, but I also love to give presents. I want to teach them that giving is just as fun as getting.
when my kids are told that Santa is not real I am going to tell them that as portrayed in Movies and such Santa usually doesn’t have it together and so instead of talking dogs or elves that saved Christmas it was Mom and Dad because we are just that cool and the talking dogs were on vacation
Technically the picture is presenting the idea of Santa kneeling at a plastic Nativity scene outside a modern house, so…
But I love the “verses” here.
Also, Santa is real. A) St. Nicholas was a real man B) Every person who plays the role of Santa at Christmastime is real …and most importanly… C) My parents told me that if you stop believing in Santa you get nothing for Christmas, and I like getting things for Christmas, so I still believe.
Elf rocks.
I agree.