Nothing Like a Leiper's Fork Parade

It was a Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade year with family. You know the kind of parade I’m talking about. It leads off with Rudolph and ends with Santa Claus in a sleigh as the climax to a very excited crowd of boys and girls who have waited to see him for what may seem like a year.

Well, everyone in these parts knows that the parade in Leiper’s Fork, a rural community in this county is a little offbeat if not qwerky. This year the actual parade was delayed a two weeks due to rain, but it was just as unusual as always. Maybe the additional two weeks just added to the emotional buildup. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day.

The first Christmas Parade I attended a month before the Leiper’s Fork parade included for me an Elvis sighting. It was unexpected and for me helped to make it memorable. Elvis sang “Blue Christmas.” The rest of the parade included marching bands, corrals of horses and many large floats. I don’t recall any goats, pigs, small donkeys, puppies or dogs. The parade in Leiper’s Fork had a menagerie (second dictionary meaning) for us.

Leading the parade in Leiper’s Fork, of course was a dancing Rudolph, and then there was Mike Wolfe from American Pickers on a vintage Harley with sidecar. Filling the middle of the parade were Farmall tractors, a replica of the General Lee, several antique Fords, Chevrolets and a Willies pickup truck. The parade also included a local Cub Scout pack, local high school cheerleaders, the Grinch who stole Christmas; children’s peddle cars, even a remote controlled model plane. At the end were Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. As you can see, it was complete.

There was a lot of excitement in this year’s parade. There were many children and possibly a few adults who were ready for the big man. I can recall that when I was a young boy it was important for me to communicate with him. I suspect kids don’t really change. He needed my list if I was going to get what I wanted. The kids today need to see him too. Seeing him is somewhat comforting even though when I was a kid I was always a bit anxious about it. He was also kind of scary too. I bet the children lining the parade route were just as anxious.

Thinking about parades, I am about to conclude that nearly every parade has someone special to salute, someone we want to welcome or maybe even celebrate. We look forward to seeing them and honoring them. Parades are meant for military heroes, sports figures and teams, national leaders and talented celebrities. So it is with Santa Claus. With notice, we mark our calendars to see them and look forward with great anticipation to seeing them.

During the holidays you may also plan for and greatly anticipate attending musicals and concerts, neighborhood lightings, and other events. And too, most of us long for time with parents, children, grandchildren and other family members. I look forward to spending time with them each year. A Christmas parade kind of primes our anticipation for being with family.

My granddaughter, Analayne woke up early the other morning, got dressed, made her bed and then proceeded to her parent’s bedroom. She woke them up at 3 am ready to go to her grandparent’s house. She couldn’t contain herself she was so excited. It was Christmas Eve day! That just sums it up, doesn’t it?

When you were a child did you wake up early? Were you excited about receiving some special gift? Did you look forward to seeing someone special to you opening a gift from you to see the expression on his or her face or in his or her eyes? I know now how my parents must have felt when I found a sled under the tree. My son received a Millennium Falcon and an X-wing Fighter one year and as a parent I was thrilled with his excitement about receiving it.

I gave my wife a coconut cream pie from Dotson’s Restaurant this year. Their coconut pies are the closest of any to being like her mother’s coconut pies. She wasn’t expecting it. I looked forward to her opening the box it was in. She had not clue. For me, it wasn’t easy to hide, and that added to the emotional drama of the occasion.

Think back to when you were last excited like my granddaughter. Ready to go and full of anticipation. What a special time it is to be excited about what lies ahead.

What kind of anticipation do you think Mary, the mother of Jesus had? Or Simeon’s anticipation of the Messiah? Or us, when we think about the second coming of Christ? The parade that sticks out to me the most in scripture is the one for Christ on the Sunday we refer to as Palm Sunday. Christmas is a time for some with conflicting emotions. Loved ones who are no longer around. I guess it comes down to focus.

Scripture

God’s sign to you will be a son, born of a virgin. Isaiah 7.14

We will be given a child who will be God, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9.6

He will come from the family of Jesse (King David) and the Spirit of God will rest on Him. Isaiah 11.1-5

There will be one before Him (John the Baptist), preparing the way for God. Isaiah 40.3-5

God declares a Messiah will come for the nation of Israel. Jeremiah 23.5-6

A “Righteous” branch will emerge. Jeremiah 33.15

From Bethlehem there will come one who will rule for Me. Micah 5.1-2

Jesus enters Jerusalem to many people shouting “Hosanna!” - Mark 11.7-8

Mary anticipates becoming the mother of Jesus. - Luke 1.30-33

The Spirit of God will come on you and His Son will be born to you. Luke 1.35

Simeon waits for and encounters the Christ child in the Temple. - Luke 2.25-32

I (Jesus) will come back to you. John 14.2

John foretells the second coming of Christ. - Revelation 2.16

I am coming again. Revelation 3.11 and Revelation 22.12

Santa Claus, Biometrics and The Polar Express

Two recent events triggered some odd thinking within my mind. The thinking came down to this: What will Santa Claus look like 50 years or 100 years from now? Will he look significantly different? Remain pretty much the same? Or will he disappear altogether?

A few weeks ago my family gathered in Ohio for Thanksgiving and we all went to the Christmas Light Display at Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio (between Dayton and Columbus). They have celebrated the Christmas season with a Christmas light display for many years. The covered bridge light display is choreographed to “Carol of the Bells” by The Trans Siberian Orchestra (There are many You Tube videos under “Christmas at Clifton Mill”. The WildScotsman has a 3 and a half minute video taken this year).

Their seasonal attraction also had a display of Santa Clauses. The photos included here were all from that exhibit. There were many, many more than what is shown here. Notice the differences in the appearance of Santa Clause, over time, in different cultures, and by different artisans. Though there are significant differences, there are common features and characteristics in the big man. He is usually big, with a large belly, wears a cherry red to dark red suit trimmed in white, has a full, white beard, wears a funny, long cap. And then there are bells that somehow accompany him, along with a booming, “Ho, Ho, Ho.”

In my experience, large men in such costumes are often quite frightening to young children. My children were frightened of the department store guy. And, come to think of it, I was terrified of the guy. It takes a brave girl or boy to approach him. Ralphie (in A Christmas Story) brings back to my mind the entire scenario. I had a hard time remembering my own name in the situation. (I am sitting on Santa's knee in the photo below.)

So, in 50 or 100 years will Santa Claus pass every kid’s biometric testing device? You know the one he or she will be carrying that is part of a “smart” device used to communicate, monitor the environment for hazards, and verify the identity of every beast, pet, man, women or child. Can Santa Claus survive the deafening alarm and defensive smog emitted by every kid’s smart device? Or can Santa Claus somehow continue to do the impossible if not mystical feat of being everywhere and still somehow pass United Nations “programmed Santa” for height and weight requirements, fingerprint test, iris test, facial analysis and saliva test.

The second event that eased the thinking pain associated with Santa Claus meeting a United Nations biometric profile, was when I sat with my nearly 4 year old grandson to watch “The Polar Express.”

The question, the boy in the movie had was the same question I had at some point in my youth. Maybe you or someone other than you asked the question at some point in your life. “Do you believe in Santa Claus?” In 50 or 100 years a second question might automatically go with it, “Is this guy the real Santa Claus?” With a biometric testing device a kid in a few years might verify this fact.

When Leighton and I watched “The Polar Express,” new questions came to mind. Things in this movie reminded me of when I was a child: the pre-occupation with things like baseball, marbles, hubcaps, model and real trains, hobos that hopped trains and radiators. Then something in the movie jumped out. The know-it-all nerdy boy was wearing a PJ top with the words “Explorer” and “Jupiter C” on it. The Jupiter C was first launched in September 1956 and the Explorer 1 Satellite launched in 1958. Woe, I was older than the time this movie depicted for a boy asking the big question.

The boy in the movie goes to a drawer to re-examine the evidence: the department store photo of Santa, the newspaper clipping on a Santa strike, the World Book entry on the North Pole. And then the Hobo asks the boy about his “persuasion: on the “Big Man.” It is a convicting question, because no one likes to be “duped” or “taken for a ride.”

Then the Hobo in the “The Polar Express” states firmly, “Seeing is believing.” Is seeing believing? What tests can be used to verify if the guy the boy sees is really Santa Claus? The boy was living in a time before biometric testing.

If you lived in that time, how would you verify the identity of the Big Man? What qualities would he have? What characteristics would he have that validate it for you? How would you determine the truth of the man?

What measure would be needed for you to identify Santa Claus in 50 years? Would he need to meet certain biometric measures? What would convince you?

Maybe, believing is seeing, or hearing is needed. What did it take for young boys or girls 500 years ago to believe?

Santa Claus for the young child is very real. To see him in a red suit with a large bag of toys puts skin on him so to speak. He cares about little girls and boys. The point of this essay is this: The spirit behind the giving of an unexpected, undeserved, and dearly needed gift is worth everything. It is greater than what we receive.

Scripture:

John 8.31-32 – Believe and you have the truth, which will set you free.

John 4.25 - He who is in authority will tell me all things.

John 7.26 - Those who could prove who He isn’t can’t.

John 13:35 - Followers of Christ are known by their love.

1 John 3:10 - Those who practice righteousness are the children of God.