First, I want to share about a Christmas celebration I witnessed in St. Louis, Missouri while visiting my sister and her family there. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to St. Charles, Missouri, suburb of St. Louis and the original capital of Missouri. It was also the place where Lewis and Clark began their western expedition from, but that’s a story for another day. On main street in St. Charles, they host a Christmas celebration with people dressed as different characters from A Christmas Carol and as different Christmas characters from around the world such as St. Nicholas and Victorian Santa and Mrs. Claus and there are also a number of carolers there. Some are dressed as chimney sweeps straight out of Mary Poppins, others as World War II era pilots and crewmen. In the afternoon of our visit, all of the carolers gathered on the steps of the old post office building and sang several Christmas songs and provided a brief history of the song prior to singing it. It was fun to learn about Johnny Marks writing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and hearing about Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber collaborating to write and compose "Silent Night." My favorite part of the performance was watching a woman signing the songs for those who were hearing impaired. It was during the performance of "Jingle Bells" that I was reminded of a scene from the 1994 film, “Miracle on 34th Street.”
The movie, a remake of a movie from 1947 of the same name, takes place in New York City and centers on a little girl named Susan (played by Mara Wilson) whose mother, Dorey (played by Elizabeth Perkins), has taught Susan that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. Susan is therefore skeptical when a man claiming to be the REAL Santa (played by Richard Attenborough) begins to work in the Cole’s mall where her mother works. Susan’s skepticism begins to falter when she finds out that not only does this Santa go by the name Kris Kringle, know all the reindeer names, have his own Santa suit, and a real beard but Susan soon finds out that he can use sign language fluently! A little girl is brought to visit Santa, but her mother tells Kris that she does not speak and just wanted to come and see Santa. To the little girl’s mother’s surprise and to Susan’s as well, Kris begins to sign with the little girl asking her name, what she wants for Christmas and what her favorite Christmas song is. The little girl indicates that it is Jingle Bells and together they sign the beloved Christmas classic. (I recently read that the deaf actress did not know that actor Richard Attenborough could sign, so her reaction was genuine and just adds to the magic of the scene!!)
This is what I thought of as I watched the woman signing on the steps of the old post office building. Then I thought about how Santa Claus could be a symbol of the Savior. The Lord knows each of us and knows how to communicate with each of us, whether we speak English, American Sign Language, or Swahili. He knows the thoughts and longings of our hearts. He knows our “Christmas wish lists.” He knows and loves us more than we can ever imagine! He wants us to come to Him. Matthew 11: 28-30 states:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
That is one of the invitations at Christmas time and always, come to Him!
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