Last night the Owen County Chamber of Commerce hosted a movie night at our local theater, the historic Tivoli. You can read about its history here.

Tami, our daughter, has been a chamber captain for the past two years and her commitment is up. I have been asked to come back onto the board after a year off and I accepted. The movie was a thank you to the captains for their service to the Chamber.

The movie was one of my favorites, especially at Christmas time: The Santa Clause. It was part of my regular Thanksgiving Day staple to watch, along with It’s a Wonderful Life. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) puts on the Santa suit and thereby agrees to become Santa Claus. It’s a fun and funny romp, a light-hearted step back in time to the innocence of a childhood belief. Tim is in rare form (Can anyone say Home Improvement?).  I know what people say about Santa Claus. “You are teaching them a myth.” “You are teaching them mistrust.” “You are teaching them to believe a lie.”

Seriously? I was told all about SC, the Easter bunny (a bit harder to believe), the tooth fairy, etc and I turned out okay. (Although some do call that into question from time to time). 🙂

I’m not advocating the worship of SC.  But come on! Don’t you think we ought to let kids be kids? Let them learn from fantasies. Can anyone say Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars, or Back to the Future?

I have to admit I did a lousy job of perpetuating SC. I was a Scrooge. If I had to do it all over again, I would do some things differently. But I can’t, so there’s that.

But…I can help put (or keep) the wonder in Christmas for the little ones I meet.  Maybe even the big ones. I think we lose the wonder, the magic, the childhood “playfulness” of Christmas. No, I’m not saying adults should believe in SC. That would be ridiculous.

But how about reviving the spirit of Christmas in our hearts? Love. Joy. Peace. Wonder. Awe. Worship. Excitement. (and a whole lot of other words which fit). Can there truly be anything more amazing, more spectacular, more breath-taking, more captivating than God became flesh and lived among us?

You tell me.