Jan 06, 2012
Misused Believe
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I think telling your kids about santa ,or the easter bunny etc.. really is not bad because you are helping expand the childs imagination wich we all need. Before the light bulb was made Edison imagined it. There is no Santa, but the concept of Santa is love we all believe in Him.
I was one of those kids that instinctively knew the Santa story was b.s. I also thought the whole concept was kind of odd and creepy. Still do, actually.
We never told our children there was a Santa that brought presents. To us that would be untruthful. We also didn't say there wasn't a Santa. When they asked if Santa was real we would ask them "What do you think?" We left them space to use their imagination. The tooth fairy was the same. We told them to leave the tooth under their pillow and in the morning they would find money in its place. When they asked "Did the tooth fairy leave the money we would ask "What do you think?" If they asked is there a Santa or a tooth fairy we would say some people think there is. We left them room to dream but we did not tell them things that were not true.
I just love the hearts that you both have for your kids! Kids are so resilient- especially when a parent addresses an issue, and covers it with love/healing. Seems like it is the unaddressed problems that cause the deep wounds.
You're both so right on about our state of BELIEVE. I guess I'm coveting here (ha) but I'd sure like to be a little more like Angie as you describe her.....sounds like she has a strong ability to trust like a child. I'm asking for more of that!
So the question remains: How do we recover that belief that we've misused/lost?
I found myself wanting more in the understanding of what believe is. Is it similar or the same as faith? I have often thought I had strong faith that all things work to together for good... from God's perspective but that does not necessarily mean that all things work together for good from our perspective. That said, when it comes to a prayer that can only be answered supernaturally I rarely ever believe it will be answered. Although I have faith, I do not seem to have much believe, or are they two sides of the same coin? So I guess I see God at work in the natural world but can not say I have ever seen a real supernatural miracle even after attending countless Pentecostal services in the 70's and 80's. I even attended a Kathryn Kuhlman service when I was 11. Despite witnessing people getting-up out of wheel chairs I later learned the staff would bring in wheel chairs and encourage their use for appearance of healing during the service. Maybe all of the fraud has destroyed my believe
The whole "santa" thing was a good thing for me because my home life was difficult as a child and I needed to believe and cling to all that was "good." I think I just wrapped santa and God into one category. I just needed to "believe" that there was someone watching over me who cared about me and wanted to give me good things. I didn't teach my kids that santa was real though because I didn't want to lie to them either. I loved that podcast.