Advent! The time when we struggle between the love that comes with the celebration of Jesus’s birth and gathering with family and the commercialism that becomes a shadow that seems to hang over it. A while back I wrote a letter to Jesus to help me find love and peace in the struggle. I hope it is something you can prayerfully reflect on and by it find the love and peace that can only come from God.
Dear Jesus,
This Advent I ask that you help me to be more like Santa Claus so that by Christmas I may be more open to receive you, my greatest gift.
I want to be more like him because he uses the gifts you’ve given him for the service of others every day of his life. He is the prayer.
You gave him the gift and talent to be able to make things with wood. He could use the gift for himself, but instead he uses it for others. He does this every single day.
He never complains about the extent of time it takes to do all this for his neighbors.
He never asks to be paid. He never asks for compensation of any kind.
He does all this in a location where we can never find him. He is hidden.
Then, when he gives the fruits of his gifts, he does it in the dark of the night and we are not even able to thank him. He’s not doing it for us. He’s obviously doing it for you.
Every day of the year is an advent day for him as he is always preparing for the big celebration of December 25, the day when you arrive! He never tires of using all you’ve given him to prepare for the big feast.
Many point finger at him they claim he doesn’t love You. They claim he’s taking away from Your coming. He knows the truth. He knows he is forever making room for You in his heart. He does not look at the gift. He looks at You, the gift giver. Perhaps out of fear of losing You, they cannot see You in him.
It is not that he has grown greedy and materialistic. He gives away. He understands that it is easier to blame him. It is easier to point the finger of accusation and judgment against him. He knows this because he knows they did it to You first. He never takes his eyes off you. It is the world that does. By taking their eyes of what Santa is actually doing, they take their eyes off You. It seems to me that the world, for various reasons, may lose its focus, but Santa never does.
With love in his heart, he smiles because he knows that the children, the pure of heart, know the truth. Each day that he sacrifices, the miracle of love grows in him for love grows in sacrifice. Santa knows that truth.
He has a joy that is so deep. We never see him sad. How can anyone who sacrifices that much for others in preparing for your coming ever be sad? He is evidence that love overflows when we sacrifice.
Yes Jesus, I want to be more like Santa. I want to use all the gifts, talents, time and all the resources you have given me for the service of my neighbor. I know that it is You who have given me these gifts and when I share them, I am, in fact, giving you, our greatest gift, to others. I want to do this every day. I want to do it quietly and never need to be thanked. I want the joy and love that grows from within each day that I live in this way of sacrifice. If I am ridiculed and judged because you are not recognized, I want the perseverance to continue doing it for you anyway. I want each day to be a preparation, in advance, for the big celebration whether it be on December 25, my birth in Heaven or you’re returning to all of us.
Each time I see Santa, may he be a reminder to me that I am called to look like You and one way for this to happen is for me to use all you’ve given me to help in the service of my neighbors so that I can give You to them and be the prayer. May the twinkle in his eye be a reminder that love like that can only come through sacrifice. If I live each day as an Advent day in preparation knowing that today may be the day you come, how can I ever be anything but happy to help in the service of my neighbors so that I can be the prayer. Then on the day You arrive for me, may You find me getting ready for You!
This Advent may all of us, your children, take our eyes off the gifts, become a little more like Santa and by it become a little more like You, our greatest gift.
Prayerfully Reflect on the Following:
Reflect on the bolded sections above. Do you reflect any of the virtues Santa has? Can you find Jesus in those attributes?
God has given you gifts and talents. Because God is sharing them with you, when you share them with others, you are sacrificing your time and bringing Jesus to them. We all have some sort of gift or talent that we can use to give as gifts for at least the closest members of our family so that we can give them Jesus for Christmas. Maybe you bake, knit or crochet. Maybe you have photographs that you took that you can now frame for them. Maybe you can give a certificate of service and make sure they use it for things like house cleaning, babysitting, dog walking or for a future car repair. Remember…the gift is not the point. That you would sacrifice your time and put a little more thought into it is what makes it special. We say that Jesus is our greatest gift and using our gifts is a way that we can actually give Him to others.