Like an Elf on the Shelf

Saint Nicholas came first as a good and generous person who watched children from day to day, keeping track of who was bad and who was good. He could see children wherever they were and whatever they were doing, no matter what time of the day or night. He kept a list and at the Christmas holiday, he would reward the children, accordingly. On Christmas Eve, children would leave their wooden shoes out for the jolly Saint to fill. The good children often found a small gift, candy, or a piece of fruit when they awoke, but the bad children would find coal filling their shoes. When children’s shoes were replaced with stockings hung at the fireplace, this is where the tradition of “finding coal in the stockings” for bad or misbehaving children emerged. Saint Nicholas was shortened to Saint Nick who evolved into the Santa Clause most American children recognize today. He was an all-knowing and rewarding father figure, Father Christmas.

Recently, even Santa's all-knowing trait is being replaced by helpers, elves. Parents are warning their children that these imps dressed in red and green are listening, observing, and keeping a list of the child’s escapades and reporting back to Santa. The elves may move through the house obtaining vantage points for close observation of the children. These tiny fictional creatures more often magically appear as the days of Christmas draw near and are pulled out of storage to regain their perches on shelves. Parents believe this fanciful creature is cute and harmless, but to the child, the imp is all too real, just as the myth of Saint Nick or Santa Clause. Saint Nicholas was a good and generous person, but had none of the supernatural abilities parents ascribed to him.

Many folks have passed those abilities to Santa and they have evolved into including the elves, Santa’s helpers. More and more the abilities that belong to God are diluted and ascribed to these mythical figures. Children become confused and are unable to separate facts about an all knowing God who is everywhere and can see everything and the manmade substitute who rewards good and evil. And Christian parents, do we pull Christ from a storage box in the attic and place Him in the crèche at Christmastime, while he lays dormant and forgotten the rest of the year? Do we celebrate His birth and forget about His death and resurrection? Do we acknowledge His sacrifice? Have we accepted the gift He offers of salvation? His list of bad things (sins) are washed away and forgotten, covered in His blood that was shed on Calvary? Hus reward is equally offered to those who have tried to be good and to those who have not been good. That is the true Christmas message.