Is Santa Claus real?

Yes.

The dark of midnight woke me from a light sleep. I couldn’t sleep. That’s how I knew it was Christmas Eve. It was the only night of the year that an eight-year old kid would wake up in the middle of night. Very carefully, I climbed down from the top bunk. I’d come back for my brother in the lower bed — if he’d come. Sneaking out the door, with a glance back to my parents’ room, I bent low and walked lightly toward the glow of the living room. On my hands and knees, I slowly stretched my head around the corner. It was there, the very special present, the rocket launcher on its base with the telescopic sight, the gift no parent would ever get for an eight-year old boy. I eyed a colorful glass ornament reflecting the brightly colored lights of the tree and knew I could launch one of those rubber-tipped missiles and blast that globe into dust. He’d done it. Santa had come. In that quiet Christmas moment, I knew he was real and would always be for me.

There will always be those who say they don’t believe.

Doris Walker tries to convince Susan, her six-year old daughter, that a person should be firmly grounded in the facts and not let dreams direct their actions or hopes. The young lawyer, Frederick Gailey, who lives next door, feels differently and tries to help Mom Doris and Daughter Susan, both of whom he falls hopelessly for. . . . Mr. Gailey’s efforts are not enough, until Kris Kringle shows up to lead the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The astute Mrs. Walker promptly hires Kris to play Santa Claus at Macy’s flagship store in New York City on 34th Street. That’s when the miracles start happening in the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street” and the 1994 remake, which I find as delightful as the original. When the story is done, the look on Mrs. Walker’s face tells it all. She believes as do the residents of New York City, the United States Postal Department and even the folks at Gimble the Grinch’s store, who can’t seem to resist the Christmas spirit. They all believe that Santa Claus is real and Kris Kringle is Santa Claus. Cheering and shouting. Case dismissed. Wow, that is a great show.

There will always be questions that can’t be answered.

There’d be nothing to believe in, if everything was believable. Kris is an understanding fellow and he tries to explain. Yes, the workshops are at the North Pole, but they’re invisible. There, don’t you see? And, yes, it is done in one night, all the present deliveries, but, you know, time stops for that part. Like relativity and making pancakes, there appears to be more than one recipe for making time. Even Lawyer Fred Gailey, a true believer, raises his eyebrows at that one. Then, he realizes, it’s Kris. He wouldn’t be Santa Claus if he was a delivery system and had to run by the clock. Who would believe in Santa if he were firmly grounded in fact? There’d be little to hope for, if everything was scheduled and ran on time.

I believe.

A lot of things we know aren’t true, and some very important ones we don’t know are too true.

Oh, and about Santa Claus, don’t worry. He’ll be there, no matter what, because he is Santa Claus.

Watch the movie and let Susan show you,

Grandpa Jim