Santa's Christmas Prayer

Our home teachers (well, okay, just one of them) came by and gave us a wonderful Christmas gift, including baked goods, an advent calendar of scripture references, and this poem:

Santa's Christmas Prayer

by Warren D. Jennings

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed.

"Dear Father," he prayed "Be with me tonight.
There's much work to do and my schedule is tight.

I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky,
Knowing full well that a reindeer can't fly.

I will visit each household before the first light,
I'll cover the world and all in one night.

With sleigh bells a-ringing, I'll land on each roof,
Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof.

To get in the house is the difficult part,
So I'll slide down the chimney of each child's heart.

My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes.
The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track.
I'll eat every cookie that is left for my snack.

I can do all these things Lord, only through You,
I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do.

All this is to honor the birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.

So to all of my friends, least Your glory I rob,
Please Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

The last three stanzas of this poem are the best ones. I love the idea of Santa being a Christian and being able to do the things he does because of a literal Christmas miracle, rather than fancy technology or "magic." And why not? Why wouldn't Santa be a Christian? Some ultra-pious people may argue that since Christmas was originally a pagan winter celebration, Christ doesn't really belong in Christmas. Some non-religious people say that Christ has no place in Christmas because they want to have Christmas without having to deal with Christ. I say "too bad" to both of them. I don't care what Christmas was or what you want it to be. To me, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, and since both Christ and Santa Clause are central to my vision of Christmas, I see no reason why Santa shouldn't be shown kneeling before the Babe in the manger.