Will Santa get arrested?
Many businesses are finding this Christmas uncertain so it is unsurprising that attention is drawn on how Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) is coping with Covid. I suspect that it takes more than a jolly ‘Ho ho ho’ to deliver presents to every household in the world. Even Amazon hasn’t quite managed that. Santa may be thinking ‘How how how?!’. But behind this fantastically popular personality is a highly polished organisation. Thankfully the dreaded virus has not made it to the elf workshops tucked far away in the North Pole. Undercover reports reveal that the workshops are still fully operational although we may not get everything we wish this year. As someone who loyally tracks Santa’s progress across the world via NORAD I have been wondering how he might cope with travel corridors? Even dropping down a chimney into our homes may be illegal! I hope Boris Johnson will give us some clarity on his position in relation to Santa and the tier system. Will he get the extra funding he needs to upgrade his sled and employ extra elves? Maybe a special case can be made for Santa entering our homes? Extra procedures will need to be in place. Maybe he will have a special jolly red face mask and mobile hand sanitising pouch? Whatever happens I suspect Father Christmas will approach the task with good cheer and creativity. After such a troubled year we need him! When he has his last glass of sherry after the last gift is delivered to the very last home I am sure he will be grateful for the smaller things of life which we can so easily take for granted. So I don’t think we need worry about Santa. Things will be different this Christmas. But like St. Nicholas (the inspiration for our own Santa) the joy of Christmas is in giving to the needy. It is not the gift that is important but the love of the giver. 2,000 years ago God gave a gift of love to the world. Not in the shape of a worldly kingdom of power but in the miracle of a fragile new born baby. God took a risk and showed us love in flesh and blood. We too can be joy givers showing love. It doesn’t have to be big, better or expensive. It can be small and fragile. So like Santa I hope you experience the joy of giving. Like St. Nicholas the care of the needy. Like the giving to the world of Jesus, a fragile baby, I hope you experience afresh God’s risky love this Christmas. After such a troubled year we need him. Blessings,
Bob