Look at this simple picture and tell me what you think and feel? Does it move you? Do you feel love, anger?? Is it a good thing? Or we mixing things that should not be mixed?
Please share thoughts. I really want to hear. You can even post anonomys and I wont even try to guess. Ok I may try to guess but I won't tell. Fair enough???
9 comments:
Hmmm, interesting....I have mixed feelings about that picture. Santa Claus to me is nothing more than a myth, a fun childhood fantasy, a made up cartoon character. He was the jolly ol fellow in the beloved Rudolph (still love that). As a kid I did not believe in Santa-my mom and dad, being Christians stressed the "real" reason that we celebrate Christmas-Christ's birth. I don't think there is anything wrong with Santa decorations and such. I also did not believe in the Easter bunny. In my opinion Santa and the Easter bunny were invented to confuse the real meaning of those 2 holidays, Christ's birth and Christ's resurrection from the grave. That picture is interesting though because the baby Jesus would not have been adorned so lavishly. KJV of the Bible which is what I grew up reading and still read (admittedly not in a loooong time, forgive me Lord) says that "the babe will be wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. Mary and Joseph were not monetarily rich and so would not be able to afford fancy, brightly colored blankets and such and a manger would be something that would be used for a food trough for cattle, etc. So in my mind and how I read the Bible is that Mary would wrap him in rags or sack cloths and the "crib" would be dusty with corn or wheat hulls from the animal feed. Dirty and drab and very humble, not king like at all. That pic is interesting because we assume it is Santa bowing down to what we assume is baby Jesus. I am not angered or offended. It's someone's colorful rendition of maybe what Christmas is to them. I have no paintings of God or Jesus in my house. No one knows what God looks like and anyone who saw Jesus is long gone. We can only assume what they both look like. I also have no crosses with the image of Jesus on them. To me that is saying Jesus is still dead on the cross, which He is not. He is risen and in Heaven with His father.
To me, this photo shows acceptance and welcoming. Maybe I'm thinking too much (who, me?) maybe I'm not thinking at all. I see Santa looking over baby Jesus. I see a commercial thing looking over a religious thing. I see Santa as almost a competitor to Jesus. Santa competes with Jesus over the Christmas season. Season is showing that they are able to cohabitate. Santa knows "Jesus is the reason for the season" but there's room for both of them. Yes, Jesus is much more important but that there's also room for Santa. Santa just takes second seat to Jesus and religion.
I look at this and see us hitting the reset button in terms of our priorities, and that is an excellent thing as far as I'm concerned.
Our character of Santa Claus derives from the historical figure of St. Nicholas, who was a devoted servant of Christ. His life was effectively one of worship by the way he lived it - in commitment to the doctrinal integrity of the Church and in service those on the margins.
So why couldn't Santa Claus adore Baby Jesus? Isn't his spirit of generosity a Christian virtue? I suppose we could split hairs about the "naughty or nice" business, but I think that to do so is to miss the point. Why couldn't Santa's generosity derive from faith? Why couldn't Santa be a Christian - a Christian who loves everyone regardless of their credo, and goes all over the world in the dead of night and in the middle of winter to live out that love.
I admit that as a Christian, I get frustrated by the secularization of Christmas, and the fact that rather than a celebrating the Incarnation, we effectively do the opposite, and make it a salute to overconsumption and avarice. That's why I think that this image has some utility - it makes us think about giving as a means of honoring God's gift of God's self to us in Jesus Christ.
Which means that there's room in the stable for ALL of us!
Thanks for all the comments. You all give me so much to think about. I so believe that Christmas has become to much about get get get. And that we must give. Rather then giving from our hearts. I love the flack that Santa started with st Nicholas. One of the most amazing and caring saints. Shellie p. I agree the icture stature is a little over done. But so much religious art is
When I found out Santa wasn't real, my mom told me "of course Santa is real, he is the spirit of Christmas!" In other words, much like Jesus, he is a symbol of hope, kindness, and giving. Mom never felt that they disagreed with one another, but complimented one another, and I can't help but agree.
I agree with a lot of what's already been said. Mostly, I'd say that Santa has his priorities in order much better than most of his followers. As much fun as Santa is for a lot of people, (we don't really care one way or another about him at our house) he is still trumped by Jesus and, therefore, He assumes proper position, worshipping God. I'm not sure this is representative of what our culture believes and worships but I guess this artist, or whoever put these two images together, did...interesting picture.
This people shows Santa Claus as God, looking down on his Son, baby Jesus, making sure he's okay. Telling him everything will be fine. That he'll be there watching over him and all people. I think Santa looks like God- it looks like a father looking down on his son.
I think Santa Claus and Jesus share Christmas. Santa is used to bring up the conversation of the birth of Jesus.
Maybe Santa is god in people clothes
I see two myths in the American mind combined in a way that joins the two stories together. Let me explain. Santa evolved from a simple story of a good religious man. St. Nicholas morphed into Santa over the decades in cartoons, books and advertising. Santa bears just a little resemblance to the original and it takes research to peel back the layers. Jesus as well, must have been an incredible messenger who touched many lives. But his story was written down decades after his death, in many scrolls which were winnowed out and voted on to become the official approved cannon. Our earliest surviving gospel does not even include the Virgin Birth or the Ressurection. When you peel back the layers of story and myth, Jesus is a figure who may be much different than we think of him today. This statue reminds me that our comprehension of God is very small. We use symbols and stories to try to grasp just a little of what God must be. We cannot say exactly who God is. And these symbols must never be worshiped and claimed as ultimate truth. I believe anyone who boils God down to a simple story or religious book has missed the point. We argue endlessly over whose ancient book is correct. Yet God is so so much bigger and more precious than any book can say. It is our human understanding that must be opened wider. To simply say, I cannot begin to describe God may be a start
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