Last Saturday I had the great pleasure of donning my gay apparel and being Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick himself for the families who came to Highlands Christmas Store. Thanks to the amazing organizational skills of Anne Cloud, the sixty plus volunteers, and all the people who bought gifts from the kids’ wish lists, we were able to provide an enchanting morning where the kids had their picture taken with Santa and then got to play and make crafts in the activity room while their parents went up to the gym and were able to buy the things their kids wanted for just cents on the dollar.

This was the first time I’ve ever been on “this” side of Santa, seeing the faces of some children light up with magic, while other kids soiled their pants they were so frightened at the sight of this...this...thing in red velvet.

One 8 year old boy who was fast entering the age of skepticism, took his picture with me, then took one step away and gave me this knowing look, this look that said, “I’m onto you, dude.” Well, fair enough. Not everyone is going to be like my sister and me who still believed in Santa by the time we had facial hair (she plucks).

I braced myself for the skeptic’s question until he asked with a snotty voice, “Is your belt real?” Somehow he missed the elastic bands crisscrossing my head holding Santa’s hat onto Santa’s white wig that was strapped onto Santa’s white beard that seems to have been made out of fiberglass insulation. He missed those details but got stuck on my vinyl belt?

I was not prepared for that one, so out of my mouth came, “Is the Batman sweatshirt you’re wearing real?”

“Of course”.

“Well, so is my belt real.”

The look on mini-cynic’s face nuanced from snotty to a sneer. His mind was not hard to read. “Great, I just got my picture taken with a smart ass Santa who can’t even spring for a real leather belt.”

I’m someone who can hardly ever take anything at face value so I found myself mulling over the questions, “What is real? What is real for me this Christmas?”

At our staff meeting this week we read the story of the angel telling the Virgin Mary that she would conceive a child who would save the world. Jenny asked us, “So do you believe in angels as distinct beings created by God or is this some kind of literary invention to carry the story forward?" Though none of us have had any conscious contact with angels, we all said that we think they are real. But I have to say I felt some sympathy for the snotty mini-cynic when I think of how I would react if I met Gabriel and his robes were made of polyester double knit. “Really? You can announce the salvation of the world but you can’t spring for bleached linen?”

I hope you all have a real Christmas.

Mark