Do you believe in Santa Claus? Well, believe it or not, he’s on his way and it’s that time of year again to ask, Have you been naughty, or nice? Or perhaps the adult R-rated version, downright mean and nasty?
What I want to know after more than 2000 Christmases, and the annual overdose of proselytizing, sentimental holiday movies is, why do we still have to ask this question? When will we know without question we’re on the ‘good’ list — no matter how many times Santa checks it — so we can be sure he’ll bring us whatever our hearts desire?
Bah humbug, you say? Just silly kid stuff? Bear with me, I have a theory that might change your mind.
Proposition One:. No one who is truly happy is nasty. No one. It’s absolutely impossible. Look what a bit of happiness did for Scrooge! Just think of a time when you were blissfully happy; can you? Then remember how you reacted to any annoyance, large or small. You see? You dealt with it ‘nicely’ – and probably with a smile. Bliss is hard to hide.
So the question really is, Have you been nasty, or happy this year? What kind of choice is that, you say? Happy is hard, nasty is easy! Who can count on being THAT happy all the time?
That brings us to —
Proposition Two: The only thing that could make you blissfully happy, continuously, is to KNOW you can have anything you truly desire in life — including perfect health and a heart full of love. That’s bliss.
I’m asking Santa to bring me bliss this year — the gift that keeps on giving. (It’s a little like asking the genie who offers to grant you three wishes for a thousand more wishes, isn’t it? I always thought that was SO clever!)
Have you ever known anyone blissfully happy? Chances are if you have, it was a child. Children KNOW bliss because they believe – they expect their heart’s desire, and believing alone, brings them joy — even before the presents arrive on Christmas morning.
That brings us to –
Proposition Three: Believe like a child again, because what you believe WILL come true. Can that oft-repeated holiday formula actually work? Apparently our Christmas honoree, Jesus, thought so. Remember this?
“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”
“Bliss”, “heaven”, the “kingdom of God” – we’re talking about the same thing. Santa and Jesus are offering the same deal! Easy as one, two, three…
- Be good/happy (remember, you can’t be nasty when you’re happy) and —
- Believe (completely — like a child) that you can have whatever your heart desires and —
- It’s on it’s way!
Be happy —
“Better watch out,
Better not cry,
Better not pout,
I’m tellin’ you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town!”
And believe –
Our Christmas babe-in-the-manger, later in life, was also heard to say, “Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.”
Did Jesus really mean that?
Yes. According to my theory — and both our Christmas experts, Jesus and Santa — if we truly want to celebrate this holiday authentically, we must be like a child and believe in our heart’s desire.
The trouble is, in spite of all the annual hoopla surrounding this biggest of all holidays, and all the feel-good stories we love to hear again and again about the miraculous power of the Christmas spirit, most of us over the age of ten have stopped believing. You may think you have good reason — what about all the things you wanted in life, but didn’t get, you say? Isn’t that a good enough reason to stop believing? Let’s take a closer look.
How many of those ‘things you didn’t get’ were truly your heart’s desire, and not just a passing fancy you later replaced with something even ‘bigger and better’? I’ll bet when you were a child, if you really — no, REALLY — wanted something you didn’t get for Christmas, you didn’t give up on Christmas Day. You kept wanting it, you kept nagging your parents, or maybe even saved your pennies until you got it. That is a desire of the heart! And you were discovering a little-known fact — YOU are one of Santa’s helpers. Let me explain…
Now Santa says he’ll deliver, but it’s up to you whether it’ll be a toy or a lump of coal on Christmas Eve — a toy if you’ve been nice; coal if you’ve been naughty, right? And, according to my theory, why have you been naughty? Because you’re unhappy. And why are you unhappy? Because you’ve stopped believing. So, if you haven’t got what you want on Christmas Day, will you ask again, and believe even harder this time until it arrives? FedEx can’t always guarantee a delivery date either, but if your package isn’t there when you expect it, do you keep expecting it? Are you still THERE when it arrives?
The bottom line is that Santa delivers on Christmas Eve, but Jesus delivers every day. In fact, they both have lots of helpers/delivery subcontractors on the job all year long – elves and angels alike (you might even be one of them). Every day IS Christmas! But Santa and Jesus ALWAYS know whether you’ve been bad or good/happy. So the trick is to ‘keep your pecker up and your knickers on’!! BELIEVE — every minute of every day. That’s your part of the job. Don’t worry, or you’ll get another lump of coal. Be happy, and you’ll get your toy. The happier you are, the faster that toy will arrive.
I hope you’re at least slightly amused by all this, but I’m dead serious about what I’m proposing. The dynamics behind the Christmas message are beyond the scope of this article — we would have to begin by citing leading-edge physicists who have proven that the act of observing affects what is being observed; i.e., thought changes physical matter — for better, or worse. (For instance, it can turn a toy into a lump of coal, and vice versa). We would have to list all the current research findings on the creative power of mind. We would have to recount all the proven success stories from people like Henry Ford who said, “Whether you believe you can or you can’t – either way you are right.” We would have to review all the proclamations and miraculous demonstrations offered by spirituality ‘experts’ down through the ages right back to Jesus, Himself.
The truth of the matter is, the power of believing is beyond theoretical – it’s a well-established fact that has been slow to catch on. But catch on it will, sooner or later. Will it be this year? Do you believe?
You can’t be good unless you’re happy. You can’t be happy unless you believe. Believe, and HAPPILY keep believing, no matter how long it takes to get your heart’s desire. It’s only a matter of time. The rest is just ‘details’. A piece o’ cake! Christmas cake.
Merry Christmas. A very, blissfully merry Christmas to you all, and a happy, happy, happy and prosperous New Year.
Sherry Ann Sword is the author of “How To Be Perfect”, an intimate and unusual journal that allows you to eavesdrop on ‘sessions’ between a psychotherapist (Ms. Sword), and the ‘best therapist the world has ever known’ — the Infinite Wisdom we all have, ready and waiting within. Ms. Sword asks questions in an internal dialogue about daily life and the universe, and receives answers that astound, inform, inspire and guide. “How To Be Perfect” demonstrates a powerful process available to all, but still rarely used. Available at http://www.booklocker.com/books/299.html
Ms. Sword received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and her masters from the University of Southern California. She was licensed in 1979 by the State of California as a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor and now lives and writes in Las Vegas, Nevada. http://www.sherrysword.com
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