Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Sweet Moment
I wasn't going to post about this, but Sista Smiff's wonderful recounting of her own story of Santa doubt and belief has compelled me to share this.
Lintilla and I have been wondering for a while if this is going to be "the year". By "the year", I mean, will this Christmas be our first without Santa Claus? All the signs have been there: Zaphod is in 4th grade, and many of his friends have fallen away. He is "Mr Logical", and we thought last year he would have brought the subject up, but seeing as he did not, we were sure this year he would. Trillian is only 15 months younger than Zaphod, so we've always assumed "as Zaphod goes, so goes Trillian". The kids made a wish list and and gave it to US, and didn't mention a thing about Santa. There are almost no toys on the wish list (which is kind of sad in it's own right).
We prepared our speeches, and waited for the inevitable question to come up. But something weird happened: the question DIDN'T come up. We started to get nervous. Here we were, all prepared for that uncomfortable "talk" that would be a precursor to all other other uncomfortable talks, and our kids weren't cooperating.
So we forced the issue. This past weekend, while watching "The Santa Claus" (which is a perfect movie for this subject, BTW), we slyly asked Zaphod what his friends thought of Santa's existence. He then proceeded to astound us.
He said that many of his friends don't believe in Santa anymore. "But", he said, "God does wonderful and miraculous stuff all the time, and many people don't believe in Him, either. But we know He exists. So, I believe."
By the way, he really talks like that, but that's for another post.
We were speechless. I can't tell you the pride I felt at that moment. It's hard to type this now without getting misty-eyed. Logical Zaphod, my son, cut to the heart of the matter and not only gave a well though out answer, he applied philospy. A 10 year old philosopher? Wow.
I know I'm awfully hard on Zaphod, I know Trillian has me wrapped around her little finger, and Zaphod resents it. Parents are always tougher on their firstborn, but that doesn't make it right. I must try to do better.
Moments like these remind me just what a wonderful son I have. Every now and then, a window opens up and I get a fleeting glimpse of the man my son will grow up to be. I look forward to shaking that man's hand, taking him out for a beer, looking him in the eye.
And telling him I love him and I'm proud of him.
Lintilla and I have been wondering for a while if this is going to be "the year". By "the year", I mean, will this Christmas be our first without Santa Claus? All the signs have been there: Zaphod is in 4th grade, and many of his friends have fallen away. He is "Mr Logical", and we thought last year he would have brought the subject up, but seeing as he did not, we were sure this year he would. Trillian is only 15 months younger than Zaphod, so we've always assumed "as Zaphod goes, so goes Trillian". The kids made a wish list and and gave it to US, and didn't mention a thing about Santa. There are almost no toys on the wish list (which is kind of sad in it's own right).
We prepared our speeches, and waited for the inevitable question to come up. But something weird happened: the question DIDN'T come up. We started to get nervous. Here we were, all prepared for that uncomfortable "talk" that would be a precursor to all other other uncomfortable talks, and our kids weren't cooperating.
So we forced the issue. This past weekend, while watching "The Santa Claus" (which is a perfect movie for this subject, BTW), we slyly asked Zaphod what his friends thought of Santa's existence. He then proceeded to astound us.
He said that many of his friends don't believe in Santa anymore. "But", he said, "God does wonderful and miraculous stuff all the time, and many people don't believe in Him, either. But we know He exists. So, I believe."
By the way, he really talks like that, but that's for another post.
We were speechless. I can't tell you the pride I felt at that moment. It's hard to type this now without getting misty-eyed. Logical Zaphod, my son, cut to the heart of the matter and not only gave a well though out answer, he applied philospy. A 10 year old philosopher? Wow.
I know I'm awfully hard on Zaphod, I know Trillian has me wrapped around her little finger, and Zaphod resents it. Parents are always tougher on their firstborn, but that doesn't make it right. I must try to do better.
Moments like these remind me just what a wonderful son I have. Every now and then, a window opens up and I get a fleeting glimpse of the man my son will grow up to be. I look forward to shaking that man's hand, taking him out for a beer, looking him in the eye.
And telling him I love him and I'm proud of him.
// posted by Slartibartfast @ 6:58 AM 
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Thanks, Slartibart...
Funny thing is, my oldest son never did say "I don't believe." It's obviously understood now that he's almost 15, but, he's like me and revels in the magic of Santa and loves being in on it for his brother.
Now, my daughter is a different bird.
Funny thing is, my oldest son never did say "I don't believe." It's obviously understood now that he's almost 15, but, he's like me and revels in the magic of Santa and loves being in on it for his brother.
Now, my daughter is a different bird.
Isn't there a downside here, as in, when it become painfully obvious that Santa doesn't exist, he might question the existence of other entities that you have to have faith in order to believe?
Sure, the spirit of Santa is a wonderful thing, but one eventually understands that the spirit of Santa is really the side of each of us that is giving, caring, considerate and thoughtful.
I believe that God is more than that, even if HE does show up in our caring and thoughtful consideration.
Sure, the spirit of Santa is a wonderful thing, but one eventually understands that the spirit of Santa is really the side of each of us that is giving, caring, considerate and thoughtful.
I believe that God is more than that, even if HE does show up in our caring and thoughtful consideration.
John H, you are SOOO close to what I consider so great about this. It wasn't until that moment that I discovered that Zaphod has "spiritual eyes" . This means that he is, at this tender age, able to go beyond what he sees and what he is told (I didn't teach him about believing in the unseen, he came up with that himself).
I guess I'm just so proud that he's such a deep thinker at such a young age.
I'm not worried that he'll use logic to talk himself out of the existence of God. If anything, of all the disciplines used to "prove" the existence of God, philosophy is by far the strongest (see CS Lewis). Besides, if God can bring ME into the fold, He can convince anyone.
I guess I'm just so proud that he's such a deep thinker at such a young age.
I'm not worried that he'll use logic to talk himself out of the existence of God. If anything, of all the disciplines used to "prove" the existence of God, philosophy is by far the strongest (see CS Lewis). Besides, if God can bring ME into the fold, He can convince anyone.
Besides all the bad grammar I should have excised from my post (i would never make it as a copy editor), I should have also said that I'm really impressed that a young person your son's age had such an interesting and philosophical insight.
My insights at that age were more along the lines of 'Davy Crockett was really cool because he killed indians and bears'. C.S. Lewis, I wasn't.
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My insights at that age were more along the lines of 'Davy Crockett was really cool because he killed indians and bears'. C.S. Lewis, I wasn't.
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