Silly Fictions

We don’t bash Santa in our home. Rudolph, candy canes, winter wonderlands—it’s all fine and even sweet silliness to us. Like pumpkin patch time or bunnies at Easter, we understand why some of our Christian friends completely eschew any contact or acknowledgment of such things. It is strange to have so many things be culturally and seasonally traditional, without any real tie to the true meaning of the  holidays. So, like all debatable matters, we try to honor the convictions of our friends, but we also feel the freedom to enjoy what we call “silly fictions” in our home. Like the tooth fairy.

I loved it when Sophia started losing her baby teeth and we could have the family fun of little gifts from a benevolent little winged creature. But how did we set up this “silly fiction” with a small child?

1. We had been talking about truth and fiction in our home for many years, so that was not a new concept. She understood (as best a small child can understand) that some things are real and some things are imaginary. Creative. “Using our imaginations!” Silly. Fun.
2. We explained that, no, of course there was no real tooth fairy who was going to come in the night. Like all such surprises and silliness, it would be Dad and Mom blessing her. But that there was this little fiction that could be fun for children of pretending that the tooth fairy came.
3. And then we invited her to play along if she would like to do so. We encouraged her to relax, have fun, and enjoy being little because silly fictions can be fun for young children.

And that was that. We didn’t blur the distinction between truth and fiction. We didn’t set up our children to think that we are liars who can’t be trusted. (“What else have Dad and Mom told me over the years that isn’t true?”) We encouraged young children to be young children and to enjoy playing. And, by the way, we all had a blast doing it. It’s fun to be silly every once in awhile! Life is serious enough. It is good to reach for joy.

 Oh. And that’s how we handle Christmas too. We worship God daily. We pray daily. We read God’s Word, gather with the saints, confess sin, and receive forgiveness. Each month, we live below our means so that we can regularly and consistently support our church, bless family and friends, and give to the poor and those suffering crushing injustices around the world. We orient our lives around the Triune God and most powerfully and most importantly, we enjoy Him. Every moment of every day.

And once a year? In addition to important theological training about God’s incarnation, the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus, the rejoicing of the angels and shepherds and wise men … in addition to these truths that we talk about all year long, we dance to Jingle Bells, stuff stockings full of goodies, put out cookies and milk on December 24th, and basically have a blast in red and green.

So we honor our friends who think differently. (Christian liberty and liberty of conscience (WCF XX) cut both ways.) We tear up at Handel’s Messiah and not at I’ll Be Home for Christmas. But we still crank up the holiday albums of Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Krall (our most fun Christmas album for dancing!) and yes, Ella’s stocking really does flash a red nose while jingling antlers and singing. Out loud. All the time.

With that, I’ll sign off with a great video that Challies posted this weekend. So true!