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.