Is Santa Claus Real?

I had a very interesting conversation with my seven year old son at Cub Scouts tonight. He told me in a very serious voice "Dad, I'm going to ask you something and I want you to tell me the truth. Is Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy real or not?" I don't know why this question popped into his head in the middle of March- maybe someone has been talking about the Easter Bunny being on its way.
Now I'm not the kind of parent who has ever pushed these characters on children, but I'm a team player in going along with the stories when people tell them to kids. I don't think it damages a child to believe such things exist (I did when I was little), but I don't believe in misleading them when they come out and ask for the truth. I was about to answer him that none of these characters really exists when a new (sort of) thought came to me.
"Well", I told him, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are just stories, they have never really existed, but Santa Claus is real, although he passed away a long time ago."
I know that Christians have often told their children the "true" story of Saint Nicholas, but even then we treat him as a sort of fairy tale character from a long time ago. But consider the following verse.

Luke 20:37,38 "But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. "Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him."

Everyone knows that the story of Santa Claus has a loosely based origin from Nikolaos of Myra, aka Saint Nicholas of Myra. And yes I am fully aware of all the paganism and mythology, etc. etc. blah blah blah surrounding what we now think of as "Santa Claus". However, I don't think we should make the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Think about this, if Nicholas of Myra was a true Christian and obedient believer in Christ (I'm not an expert on his doctrine or his practices) then not only did he live a long time ago, but he still lives today in paradise. And if those who are in paradise are aware of what's going on here on earth, as I believe they probably are, then Nicholas does indeed know if we've been naughty or nice, at least a few of us anyway.
Studying this man reveals that he had a true love for Christ and his fellow man, he was indeed a giver of gifts, and the greatest gift he gave was the gospel message about salvation through the Lord Jesus.
I think it is an encouraging thought that the departed faithful servants of Christ are watching us, cheering us on, and praying for us.
No, we shouldn't treat Nicholas of Myra as anything more than a normal man, we shouldn't pray to him or entertain any thoughts about him being a superhuman figure in any way, but why not use his story to reach out to others and spread the news of the greatest gift ever given- the Lord Jesus Christ. I think "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" would have wanted it that way.
Yes kids, Santa does exist, and perhaps he occasionally catches a glimpse of you from the gates of paradise .



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