The tale of the Christmas ogre and the wise Santa

 By Karen Carnabucci, LCSW, TEP

On this Christmas Eve, I send my best and warmest greetings.

 Whatever holidays you celebrate, this is the season of slowing down, of taking stock, of resting, connecting with others, expressing kindness and looking to the arrival of the new year.

And Santa? Santa Claus might be the Santa of the Christians' Christmas, or he might be a simple wise man -- acting upon centuries of love, with the wisdom of what we need.

At this time of year, I like to think of one of my favorite children’s books, titled Winter’s Tales, a collection of sweet and savory holiday stories written by Michael Foreman and illustrated by Friere Wright. They are all excellent, and one favorite is “The Ogre’s Heart,” about a nasty and hungry ogre who terrorized the village, stealing the village’s sheep and fruit throughout the year and gobbling the villagers’ turkeys and mince pies at Christmas.

Santa Claus, on his way home after a night of delivering presents, found the sleeping ogre. He looked inside of his sack but only found a few pieces of ribbon and bits of mistletoe and holly.  Santa somehow found his way inside the ogre’s chest (don’t ask me – it’s all magical!) and found the ogre’s big beating heart. He draped holly and mistletoe and ribbons all over the heart, whistling as he worked. Then, he climbed back to his sleigh, still whistling, for this trip home.

The next day, the villagers were amazed to see the ogre dancing through the snowy valley.  And the ogre was singing. Singing “Jingle Bells,” as a matter of fact, as he danced, a few birds following in his wake. The villagers were astonished.
One elder man suspected that the spirit of Christmas touched his heart.

And so, I wish you the warmest greetings of the season, wishing you courage, strength, friendship, generosity  and love.