Is Santa Part of the Trinity?

On the radio today I heard an author talking about his childhood religious confusions. Santa loves children and knows if they have been bad or good. Therefore Santa must be God! The author ultimately came to think of Jesus as Santa for poor or disabled children since he is often pictured with such young people. Meanwhile the red-suited Santa is for richer children since he's pictured with rosy cheeked healthy kids. Not bad reasoning for a little kid!

This radio conversation made me think of my own ambivalence about Santa when our boys were little. Up to about age three it was easy. We took them to sit on Santa's lap which, incidentally, they hated. We labeled the major toy gift as from Santa. We read Santa stories along with the Baby Jesus stories.

By age three David was in a Christian pre-school and Sunday School and was hearing a lot about Jesus in those places. Meanwhile secular culture was emphasizing Santa. Meanwhile our preschooler asked questions. Lots of questions. About everything. And I became more and more concerned about when he would ask the Santa questions. Sure, the whole Santa thing is fun, but how could I lie to the boy who got detailed, honest answers about everything else?

When David was five, I serendipitously found a wonderful children's book that told the true story of the real St. Nicholas who gave anonymous gifts. I put it aside for the time when the Santa question would come up. Sure enough, as the Christmas frenzy developed that year David started asking questions. Most parents would certainly not want their five year old to stop believing in the magic of Santa, but I was secretly thrilled. I pulled out the St. Nicholas book and told him the truth....and then asked him not to tell his brother! A couple of years later the same scenario played out with Kevin.

Did I steal their childhood? I don't think so...and I would do the same thing again. I do wonder if they missed the joys of childhood magical belief. I also wonder how they will ultimately decide to deal with the Santa questions of their own children.

At least I hope they won't have to un-tangle beliefs that God is somehow a quad-rity made up of Father, Son, Spirit and Santa :-)