Is there more proof of the existence of Santa Claus than there is of Jesus? Just a question and  this time of year, when I am out and about, I see a lot of representations of Santa in stores than I do of Jesus. In fact, that’s mostly all I see. Strange isn’t it that a day, originally meant to celebrate the birth of the messiah, is strangely deficient of any depictions of him anywhere.

The idea of Santa claus is old. Not as old as Jesus, but  Santa is based on a  a real person, St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. We actually know more about his life, including the legends that surround that life, than we do of Jesus. We know when he was born (and where) and when he died. All we have for Jesus is disputed dates of both, but the consensus today is that Jesus (if he ever existed!) died in 30 CE.

The legend of Nicholas spread far and wide in Europe, and of course came to North America as well. We commonly refer to him as Santa Claus, but he’s also known as St. Nick. Already I’m seeing more proof for believing in Santa than in Jesus.

For the last 60 years NORAD* has actually tracked Santa on Christmas Eve. When I was a kid, my father, being in the Air Force, would actually call home (if he was working that night) and give us updates as to where Santa was in his journey and to make sure my sister and I went to bed before he got to our house. This was done, way back then, by teletype, where installations around the world would pass Santa from one to another.

Today, there’s actually a page you can navigate to to watch Santa’s Journey on Christmas Eve. How times have changed! Think about it, if the U.S. and Canadian governments spend time and effort to track Santa Claus, is it possible that Santa is in fact real?  He looks to be more real than Jesus.

If you decorate for Christmas, take a look around your home and compare the images of Santa, Reindeer, a sleigh, to those of Jesus. In my home, they’re everywhere.  Does this prove Santa Claus exists? Of course not, but it shows that people use his image a lot more during this time of year than that of Jesus.

*North American Aerospace Defense Command