The other night, I
was sitting in front of my fire thinking about the commercialism of
Christmas and what I could do for my
grandchildren to
help them
understand its true meaning. As it got late, I headed
into my kitchen for some hot chocolate
before going to bed.
When I reached up into the cupboard to get a
cup, I was startled by a loud swishing
noise outside
my
window. I looked out
and saw a sleigh with eight
tiny
reindeer pulling
it. They were getting ready to
land;
and they did, right in front of my house.
You can
imagine my surprise. I put on my coat
and
ran
outside to see what was happening. By the time
I got
out there,
the
driver was nowhere in sight. The
reindeer were just
standing there snorting, and a few
stomped their
feet
as though they were
anxious to
be on their way. How
those tiny reindeer
could pull
that gigantic sleigh is a
mystery.
Can you believe I am such a curious
person, that I just had to see inside.
It sure was work, climbing up into
that
tall sleigh.
The driver's seat was really
cozy, with a red quilted
leather bucket
type seat, and a wrap-around shawl
attached to it.
Next to
that seat was a very deep hole.
It appeared larger than
the sleigh from the outside.
I don't guess there were
ever
any
passengers. I
decided that it was meant to
hold gifts.
Another huge
hollow space was in back of the sleigh.
I jumped back there to examine it more closely and
discovered I
was going
to have a hard time getting
out because it was so deep. There were some lovely
smelling pine
needles
scattered on the bottom.
It had
several shelves, rather far apart, and I decided that if
I could just
reach the first one, I'd be able to climb out.
Just then, I heard someone coming. The sleigh swayed
as a giant figure climbed into the driver's seat. With
a crack of a whip,
I heard him say,
"On Donner, On
Blitzen...."
Oh, boy, was I scared! Then before I could catch my
breath, we were airborne. Now what could I do? I
tried
yelling to Santa,
(I had figured out who it was). T
he wind
was howling past us so fast, he
couldn't hear me. In no time at all, or so it seemed, we swooped down
toward the ground and gracefully landed, like those
Olympic skiers that take off from a
high slide and just glide
down to earth. I again yelled to Santa. This time
heard me.
"HO! HO! HO! What have we here?" I didn't know
if he would be angry or just amused.
Fortunately for me, he was very amused
as I explained how I happened to be there. Imagine
a grandma climbing into that sleigh.
I guess that would
be amusing.
"Whew!" I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, young lady, (did you catch that? "YOUNG lady")
since you are here, how would
you like a tour of
North Pole City?"
I was overjoyed. "But, how will I
ever get back home?" I asked.
Santa assured me he would have Rudolph carry me
back, so I relaxed a bit. As he pulled me up next to
him,
I looked around.
There was nothing but a few
trees,
snow and ice as far as the eye could see.
Before I could ask where the city was, the ground
beneath us opened up and reindeer, sleigh and all
were lowered gently down, down, down, until we
came to rest in a
very large and brightly glowing
room. It was filled with gifts that were wrapped in
beautiful paper and ribbons with bows.
Some also had
flowers and bells decorating them.
At the end of the room there was a conveyer belt that carried oodles
of toys
and games, wagons, bikes and
dolls, jewelry, electronic items from pagers to cellular
phones, to computers, tools, blankets,
slacks, jackets,
sweaters, blouses, shirts and ties, (it seemed
there were an inordinate amount of ties) and so many other items,
that I could hardly believe my eyes. They were
slowly moving toward several dozen elves that were
whistling a happy tune
while
they wrapped, taped and
decorated each item as it came down the line.
I asked Santa where he got all the gifts. He answered
that people put in their orders, and he and the
elves try to
fill each one.
Some he has to order himself.
Others, his elves make. He said that many people believe
he can
make them without cost, but that
is not so. The
folks that order the gifts do pay for them. He also told me
that
many young children whose folksdo not have money
to spend on gifts, write to him with so much hope, that it
breaks his heart when he is unable
to fill their order.
He
said, "If everyone on earth, who is able to buy gifts for
their loved ones, would buy just one extra gift for
a needy child
or adult, no one would ever have to be left out."
This stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Santa, I wish I had
known!"
"Well, now you do." he said.
Then he took me by the hand and led me into a Great Room where
elves were busily hammering, gluing, and fitting, painting
and singing. The harmony was so beautiful. It took my breath away. They
were singing...
A very attractive lady with white hair approached us. She
was wearing a red
dress, and a red and white checkered
apron that covered
a roly-poly tummy like Santa's,
With a
cheery, "Welcome back, Honey, who is this with you?"
she gave Santa a kiss.
I assumed she was Mrs. Claus.
"This is a stowaway from the last town where I delivered
those Christmas trees tonight." he answered.
Then he smiled at me and asked, "And, what is your name?"
"I thought Santa knew everything." I said.
Santa put
his hands on his hips and said, "I don't
know how that rumor got started."
I told him my name, somewhat confused. Mrs. Claus came over and gave me a big hug. I was still
wondering about Santa
not knowing
everything, when Mrs. Claus led me over to a lavishly decorated table filled with
food. Every imaginable dish was there:
a sampling from
every country. She asked me to help myself.
By this time, I was really hungry, so I picked up a plate and
tried everything that was there. It was wonderful. There were many
familiar
tastes, but others were very
unfamiliar. It was all so delicious, and the neatest part was that I could eat as much
as I
wanted without
feeling
too full.
When I was finished eating, they took me around and
introduced me to every elf that was working there. It
looked more like fun
than work.
The introductions took
a long time. Each elf stopped his work momentarily
to greet me and explain what he was doing.
They
were so
genuinely friendly, and I was having such a
good time.
Suddenly, Santa and Mrs. Claus both took my hands and
quietly led me out to a path that wandered past rows of
little houses.
"That is where the elves live." Santa
whispered.
The path eventually led up to a beautiful chapel 
where
soft rainbow colored light filtered through stained glass windows.
An organ could be heard softly playing,
"Oh, Come Let Us Adore Him"...
Santa and Mrs. Claus
seemed to tiptoe as we entered, so I did too. I looked
around and saw that there were probably
a hundred
elves kneeling
in prayer. I stood there in awe.
Santa saw that I was a little bewildered, and he turned
to me and said,
"It is very sad that so many people
celebrate Christmas but forget the very One we are
supposed to be remembering...
but we do not forget Him.
If it weren't for the birth of Jesus, Mama, the elves and I would not even exist."
Then, we reverently knelt with the elves to give thanks
to God for his priceless gift.
I don't know how much time passed. It seemed to
stand
still. It was such a joyous experience.
Finally, Santa said it was time to go.
We worked our way back past the Great Room,
through the
wrapping room, and onto the
platform that took us up to the
icy ground above.
As we said our good-byes
and hugged all
around, Santa whistled for Rudolph.
They got
me a step stool so I could
climb up on
Rudolph's
back, and bundled me up really well in a
down comforter. I was waving
goodbye, and before
I knew it, I was back in front of my home.
It was all quiet, so I went in and fixed that cup of hot
chocolate.
I
sat in front of the fire and just thought
about all that
had happened. It gave me a new
appreciation for Santa and gift giving at Christmas.
Now, I will always think about the
birth of the Lord
Jesus, whenever I see Santa.
|
Dawn Tucek © December 1996 |
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*For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11 |
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