This image provided by the Department of Defense shows volunteers answering phones and emails from children around the globe during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa event on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., Dec. 24, 2021. (Chuck Marsh/Department of Defense via AP)
Millions of children eagerly awaited Santa Claus’s visit last night. If you used NORAD’s Santa tracker, you knew precisely where he was on his annual expedition. On any other night, the North American Aerospace Defense Command scans the skies for potential threats. But on Christmas Eve, at least one hundred thousand kids call into NORAD to inquire about Santa’s location, while millions more follow St. Nick’s progress via online reports in nine languages.
It all started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears ad encouraging children to call Santa and listing a phone number. A boy called, but he reached NORAD. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began reciting a Christmas wish list.
When the boy questioned whether he was really talking to Santa, Col. Shoup summoned a deep voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. Fifty calls a day followed, and the rest is history.
Over the years, reporters have questioned the accuracy of Col. Shoup’s story. But no one questions the popularity of the figure at its center.
“Let us celebrate the festive day”
Imagine a scenario in which Santa Claus comes to a home, presents in hand, and is turned away. After all, receiving and opening a present takes a certain amount of faith. We believe that the one giving the gift won’t charge us for it later and didn’t steal it from someone. We believe that the gift will help and not harm us. We believe that opening the gift won’t obligate us in ways we’ll regret later.
No one seems to lack such faith with regard to St. Nick. How much more should we welcome and celebrate the gift Jesus brought us at Christmas?
C. S. Lewis noted, “Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.” Max Lucado is right: “The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us.”
St. Augustine reminded us that if Christ had not come,
You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.
As a result, he encouraged us:
Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.
“Peace on earth will come to stay”
Because of Christmas, we know that God is “with us” (Matthew 1:23). But what’s more, when we welcome Christ into our lives, he becomes God “in” us by his Spirit (Romans 8:9). Just as he was born physically at Christmas, he is born spiritually in us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
When he enters our lives, the Son of God changes our lives. We become a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), reborn as the children of God (John 1:12) and given eternal life at the moment of our salvation (John 3:16).
To experience the life-transforming power of Christmas every day, however, we must stay connected to the Christ of Christmas every day. As Oswald Chambers noted, “The bedrock of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus.” Here’s why:
The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, his nature begins to work through me.
God manifest in the flesh—that is what is made profoundly possible for you and me.
When we experience the living Lord Jesus in this way, every day is Christmas and our world can never be the same. As Mother Teresa said, “It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.” Helen Steiner Rice added,
“Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day.”
Merry Christmas.
Wednesday news to know:
- Netflix is airing 2 NFL games on Christmas Day. Here’s what to know
- Satellite images show North Korea boosting arms flow to Russia
- US flu season is underway, as cases surge in some areas and vaccinations lag
- Burt, the crocodile featured in “Crocodile Dundee,” dies at 90
- On this day in 1941: Bing Crosby introduces “White Christmas” to the world
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote for the day:
“We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.” —Pope Paul VI
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