I'm in school. I work for a university, and despite the fact that I'm in my mid-thirties, they pay for my schooling and I'm able to finish my degree on their dime, for which I am extremely grateful. It's a Catholic liberal arts school, and even though I'm not Catholic, they still allow me to parallel my personal views about God into many of my classes. I love it.

I just finished a Philosophy class, where we did a 5-week overview of many philosophers/philosophies and the meaning that those views have in today's society. For my final paper, I wrote about Plato's Allegory of the Cave and paralleled it to my nephew discovering the truth about Santa. I'll share it parts of it with you (the more I re-read the first part, the more I see the similarities in coming to know Jesus and spreading the word to resistant unbelievers):

In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, he describes his “Theory of Forms”: the notion that the physical world in which we live is but a shadow of a greater reality. The people in his analogy live a very limited life: they are only able to see shadows of actual objects dancing on the wall in front of them, and can never turn their heads to see the source. Dependent upon this limited reality, “truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (Biffle 2001, p.84). The prisoner who escapes has a physically rough transition as his eyes adjust to the light, but can eventually see the greater reality (stars, sun, etc.) and derive deeper meanings about life and his new surroundings. The freed man has a desire to share this new reality with those still held captive, but the prisoners have grown comfortable with their surroundings and are adamantly resistant to the prospect of change: “If anyone tried to free another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender and they would put him to death” (Biffle 2001, p.85). Socrates then creates a parallel between this story and our own reality, noting that “the mind can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of Change into that Unchanging reality, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of reality, and of the brightest and best of reality, or in other words, of the Good” (Biffle 2001, p.86). Though both Socrates and Plato may have had different concepts of God, I interpret the “world of Change” to be our physical, earthly existence, and the “Unchanging reality” to be that of God and His kingdom: Hebrews 6:17 notes that “God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised” (NIV), and 13:8 notes that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (NLT). Socrates notes that there are two types of blindness, or “confused eyesight”: that which is caused by going from darkness into light (enlightenment), or coming from the light back into darkness.

My nephew John is very perceptive and intelligent. At the age of five, he is able to read, write in cursive, complete basic multiplication problems, and use a computer with relative ease. Yet, like most children, John is very impressionable and easily swayed into believing most of what is handed to him from those in whom he trusts. He believes in his constant safety, the greater good, that all adults hold undisputable and absolute truth in all areas, and that his parents are infallible: to think otherwise would be inconceivable. His limited exposure to the world has helped to mold these perceptions.  

In the first years of his life, John was certain that Santa Claus was, without any doubt, a real man who delivered toys to good children at Christmas. After all, those that he trusted the most had assured him that this was true. He was also certain that, in some strange way, Jesus Christ and Santa Claus were, in fact, the same person. His parents seemed very excited each Christmas Eve and would make special preparations which included a special church mass honoring the impending birth of the baby Jesus, which always coincided with Santa’s arrival. The people on television ran specials and movies, confirming his existence. His mother would even take him to the local mall to sit on his lap: he had met Santa face-to-face. His older brother, Alexander, did not believe and made repeated attempts to convince him of the same, but John would not be swayed. Those that he loved had assured John that Santa was real: how could this not be true?

This past Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law made the usual preparations for their holiday celebration. The house was decorated, cookies were baked, holiday songs permeated throughout the house, and excitement was in the air. After accompanying their parents to the traditional Christmas Eve mass, John was eager to rush home to bed in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. As he was tucked in, my sister warned him that Santa “knows when you are sleeping, and knows when you’re awake”, so he had to fall sound asleep before Santa and his reindeer would arrive. My sister and brother-in-law waited for about 45 minutes, checked on the boys and confirmed that they did appear to be sound asleep. They then went quietly downstairs to finish decorating the Christmas tree and fill the room with toys and gifts for the boys.

In their happy excitement, they did not hear a groggy John tip-toe down the stairs. They did not notice John staring in disbelief as they hummed carols and placed gifts under the tree. They were oblivious to the shock that spread through his little body as he realized the horrible truth: Santa was not real, and his parents had intentionally deceived him. John began to wail: my sister and brother-in-law were disheartened to realize that they had been discovered. There was no amount of comforting that could reconcile this bitter truth in his mind. His parents tried to explain, in five-year-old language, that Santa was real in our hearts, and his existence was a metaphor for the spirit of Christmas that lives in everyone. Though disillusioned, John warily accepted this assurance that his parents offered, and was once again tucked into bed. 

Part of the joy of living is deliberately freeing ourselves from the shackles our stale images of life and search for God's greater meaning. As we grow and experience life, our perception of reality changes frequently. Many self-made truths that we once held to be absolute become grayed, and we are forced to find new conclusions. Sometimes when the realization of a greater truth (such as discovering the reality of Santa) creates despair and disillusionment, we experience grief over the loss of the idea that we held so firmly to be true. When we are forced to part with stagnant ideas and half-truths in which we firmly believed, the loss is sometimes difficult; however, the new truth gained helps to illuminate the path to the greater potential that God holds for us all.

Okay, it's not a theology class, but my life is centered around Christ, so like I said, I usually express that love when I can.  

In an effort to celebrate "Christmas in July" (or maybe to just have an excuse for discussing Santa when it's 90+ degrees outside), I present this to you: I have heard so many people insist that the Santa story is not the same as a lie. They say that it doesn't qualify, that it's meant to bring the "magic of Christmas" to children. Mike and I don't have children, but we are very close to our nephews, and I have to say that I felt pretty badly for the little guy last year. We all go through it, I know. But I'm also thinking about the movie, "Miracle on 34th Street": she insists that her daughter not be fed stories about Santa, that she should only be told truth.

Where is the line between imagination and lie? The Santa story clearly devistated John, but it gets easily discounted because of his age and "resilency". Is it okay to lie to children? He was conviced that Santa and Jesus were the same person! I can understand where he got that notion, but how do you explain that they aren't at all the same while maintaining the Santa ruse so that a child that age can understand? Oh, the tangled webs we weave...

It occured to me as I was writing this story for class that allowing a child to draw a parallel between Jesus and Santa is really dangerous. The child sees that Jesus and Santa are (essentially) "celebrated" simultaneously in a grand manner at the exact same time. One arrival coincides with another. He mentally links the two together in such a solid way that the two actually become one. He then discovers that everything he thought he understood about Santa was not true. He becomes disillusioned. What does that do to his faith in Jesus?

Fortunately, my nephews are believers and my sister has instilled the inherit truth of God into their daily lives (she's a fantastic Mom). Nevertheless, it still really bothers me when I think about this prospect. (I know, I'm over-thinking). Children are very vulnerable and impressionable - is it right to take advantage of that, knowing the risks that will place on a child's faith? In Jars of Clay's "Faith Like a Child", they write: 

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them falling to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe with Faith Like a Child

I'd love to know your thoughts.