The Red Suit Diaries by Ed Butchart

Author:Ed Butchart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2003-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

DIARY FOUR

Believing

You’ve Got Questions?

Santa’s Got Answers!

Most of my most difficult Santa questions come not in winter but at the close of summer every year. That’s when Annie and I take part in one of our favorite Stone Mountain celebrations, the weekend after Labor Day Yellow Daisy Festival, which is billed as the South’s largest arts and crafts show. More than four hundred artists and crafty people set up their booths along a series of wide pathways that wind through a wooded section of the park. Annie and I walk around in summer outfits and visit with kids and grown-ups as we go.

The fun part of this adventure is that both of us are kept busy responding to all kinds of questions . . .

“What are you doing here?” Well, I have to be somewhere, and this is one of my favorite places in the whole world.

“Where did you come from?” The stork brought me. OK, not true, but it is a fun answer.

“Where are your reindeer?” That’s a favorite question, heard all the time, everywhere. I usually say the deer are at the North Pole—it’s much too hot for reindeer in Atlanta in summer. Well, isn’t that true?

Then the jackpot: “Are you Santa Claus?” This one always puts me on the spot. Do I say yes or no?

How would a politician answer? “Do I look like Santa Claus? I do? Well, are you being a good kid? Well, if you’re being a good kid, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? If you’re being a good kid, it doesn’t matter if Santa Claus is watching you, does it? That’s why you always have to be good. Right?”

I don’t like to stop there though. I’d much rather give them something to believe in, so I tell them what I believe: “Tell me, who’s always watching you to make sure you’re being good? No, besides Santa. That’s right, Jesus is always watching you, not just to make sure you’re being good but to watch over you and take good care of you. Right?”

Of course, that leads to more questions from the kids. “How did you get here?” This is an easy one. In a van, which is the straight-up truth again.

But then comes the follow-up: “Why didn’t you use the sleigh?” Tough one again, but I love it, because it gives me a chance to share my belief. “Didn’t you know that the magic only works on Christmas? That’s right, only on Christmas—of course, you can have Christmas in your heart every day. You know why? Do you know what that magic is? It’s love—love is what makes Christmas happen. Love is what Christmas is all about—Jesus’ birthday, when God proved how much he loved the world, and you and me. He loved us so much that he sent his Son into the world. Then Jesus proved how much he loved us by giving his life for us so that we could have eternal life. That is what Christmas is all about. God and Jesus’ love for us, parents’ love for their kids, and kids’ love for their parents.

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