"HO HO HO! Merry Christmas, Martha. You remember what I
said, do what your mommy says and have a very happy
Christmas this year."
"Thank you, Santa," says a cute little four-year-old as
she scampers triumphantly from Santa's lap.
"HO HO HO! And here comes my last little visitor. Well,
actually, you're not so little, are you? So, climb up
here on my knee and tell me your name."
"My name is Billy, Billy Mitchell," he says with an
accusing face, "and you would know it if you were the
real Santa Claus."
"Well, Billy, I am the real Santa Claus. Right now, I'm
renting this body from a mortal just like you. His name
is Ken Larsen. He lets me use his body every year so I
can talk to all my friends, like you."
"Wait a minute," says Billy, with a judgmental scowl,
"You're talking about yourself as if you were someone
else. I'm too smart for that kind of nonsense."
"It's called channeling," I explain. "Ken puts on my
outfit and channels me. Oh, don't be so negative. We're
all born with it. Sometimes it's called having an
imaginary friend, like you did a few years ago. All
children are born with special abilities. They naturally
know how to dance, sing, laugh, love and channel.
Usually, they think they have to lose these things to
grow up. They learn how to sit still when they feel like
dancing or singing. They learn how to hate others for
being different. They learn that imaginary friends
aren't politically correct. Then, later, they learn
again how to sing and dance. Ken was one of the lucky
ones who learned again how to channel. Once you get the
hang of it, you can channel anyone or anything, dead or
alive, real or imaginary. When children channel, it's
called having an imaginary friend. When adults do it,
they are called mediums or prophets. Ken channels me and
you get to talk to Santa. It's that simple."
"Sounds to me like you need help." Accuses Billy.
"I'm sure I do, Billy," I admit. "We all need help.
That's why we are all here, to help and to be helped.
Actually, I think the sick ones are those who hide their
different personalities from each other, or, even worse,
those who deny their natural channeling to avoid
ridicule."
"I think it's all in your imagination," says Billy.
"Of course it is," I respond. "Everything is imaginary.
That's why it's fun and harmless. Anyway, Ken's body and
his mind are all I've got. He has stuffed his little
brain with all kinds of nonsense, like science, history,
and politics. There just isn't room for all the names of
the 6 billion children on the Earth."
"Isn't that the whole population?"
"Yes, Billy. My, you're smart, even for a 12-year-old.
Yes, that's the hole population of the world and Santa
sees a child in the heart of every one."
"How did you know my age?"
"Oh, just a good guess."
"You're different from the other Santas" "How's that?"
"You're honest."
"Thank you, Billy."
"The others pretend their fake beard is real," Billy
says, appearing to warm up a bit. "They encourage the
other kids to believe in something that can't be real."
Billy surprises me with a friendly yank on my beard.
"Oh!" he cries, "your beard doesn't come loose."
"No," I explain, "it's securely tied with a shoelace on
the back of my head. You want to hear a funny? A few
years ago, I grew my own beard. It was several inches
long. It wasn't white, so I wore the Santa beard over
it. Some kids asked about my beard and I pulled it off,
revealing my own Santa beard underneath. Boy, then they
knew I was the real Santa for sure."
"Ha-ha-ha," Billy laughs out loud, "Those other kids
sure were stupid to believe Santa is real just because
you grew a beard."
"Oh, Billy. Don't be so sure. Santa may not be a person.
But that doesn't mean he isn't real. Santa is a feeling.
He's that feeling of joy you get when you give to
another. He's that joy you feel when you do something
wonderful and nobody knows, not even your mom. The joy
is real and you can feel Santa in your heart just by
following his example and giving to others."
"Thank you, Santa. That's good advice."
The Store manager interrupts. "Okay, Santa, we're
running a bit late. Give the boy his candy cane and
let's go. We need to get home to our families and your
contract does not include overtime."
"Just another moment, please, Mr. Burton. Billy here
hasn't yet made his request. And you can take my
paycheck and give it to your favorite charity. Merry
Christmas."
Mr. Burton steps down in a huff and dismisses the rest
of my staff, leaving me alone with Billy. I think how
much I'm going to miss that check. Santa ignores me and
returns to Billy.
"Now, Billy, where were we? Oh yeah, let's play a little
game. You pretend just for a minute that I'm the real
Santa Claus and I can give you anything you want in the
whole world. What would you ask for?"
"Peace on Earth," he says with a mischievous gleam in
his eye.
"Wow! You don't mess around, do you? Before I give you
peace on Earth, let me tell you about my rules. Yes, I
have my own prime directives. First of all, I do no
harm. So, you can't ask me to punish your enemies or
kill your neighbor's dog. Secondly, I do not force human
behavior. I won't force other people to be peaceful."
"Why not?"
"Well, Billy, you see, if I forced people to do good,
they would lose the joy of choosing right. Let's see,
let me put it this way. Do you remember when you were
trying to learn to play the piano?"
"Yes, how did you know?" "Just a good guess. Anyway, you
made lots of mistakes and your music sounded terrible."
"Sounds like you were there," he says with a tone of
embarrassment.
"Now, Billy, suppose your mother had sat down next to
you and played all the notes for you. The music would
have been beautiful, but you would not have learned to
play."
"Yes, she does play beautiful music on the piano. Do you
think her music was as bad as mine when she started?"
"Yes, Billy. That's how we learn, by making mistakes.
Oh, I might be able to force everyone to be good, but
then nobody would learn how to live. Here's another
example. Remember last Halloween when you stole some of
Sally's candy? Nobody caught you and nobody punished
you, but when you saw her cry you felt very bad. You
learned two beautiful lessons. First, you learned how
much you really love Sally. Then, you learned that you
feel bad when you hurt someone you love. You couldn't
learn those important lessons in living if someone
always forced you to be good."
"Wow, Santa! You're right. It does hurt when I do bad,"
Billy said with enthusiasm. Then the suspicion returned
to his face. "How did you know I stole the Halloween
candy and how did you know Sally's name?"
"Just another lucky guess. Don't worry, Billy. Your
secret is safe with Santa. That's another one of my
rules. I keep your secrets because I respect your
personal choice."
"Personal choice?" asks Billy.
"Yes, personal choice," I respond. "As long as you're
not hurting anyone, I respect your personal choice for
two very important reasons. First, if I forced you to
choose what I think is right, I would be stealing from
you the blessings of choosing good by yourself. Second,
only when I allow your personal choice do I have a right
to demand that you allow mine."
"Wow!" says Billy, "I never thought that asking you to
make other people be good might give them the right to
make me do what they think is good, even when they might
be wrong."
"Yes," I say, "That's a secret to life. You can't be
free if you don't let others be free. Now, here's
another secret to life. Take these 5 candy canes home and
give them to Sally. Tell her you took her Halloween
candy and you're sorry. Then, you will discover how
wonderful you feel when you do good to someone. In fact,
Billy, you feel even more wonderful if they don't
deserve it. That's right. If you can love someone and do
good for them even when they are hurting you, that gives
you special power. I'm not saying to surrender to them.
Oh no, surrender takes from your power. I'm saying you
can find ways to do good for people who hurt you without
surrendering. That gives you power. Don't love your
enemies because you fear God. Love your enemies because
it is a secret path to personal power and happiness.
And, Billy, it's even better if they don't know it's
you. That's why people use my name when giving Christmas
presents."
Billy ponders silently.
"Oh my, Billy! Look at the time. I've got to go. I need
to return this body to Ken so he can go visit his
girlfriend. And I've still got to hear what he wants for
Christmas. Oh, yes, and one more thing, Billy. You did
ask for peace on Earth, didn't you? Well, here's a
secret for peace within your own personal world. Just
make sure from now on that everything you say and do is
perfectly in agreement with what you really believe.
That will put peace in your heart. And, as far as peace
on Earth goes, here is a magical candy cane of peace.
Take it home and keep it separate from the others you
are going to give Sally. When you get home, break this
candy cane into two pieces. Take one piece outside and
place it on the ground. Then, you will have your piece
on Earth. HO HO HO! Merry Christmas, Billy. You've been
wonderful and I've got to run."
"Bye, Santa."
Chapter II
