The legend of Santa Claus is an old one. It is filled with a history, broad and wide, that includes a saint, several stories from several countries, and an ad campaign. It belongs to everyone and is part of everyone in one way or another. Saint Clause was indeed a man who was sainted, not because he was a Christian but rather because of the good that he did.

But the story of Santa Claus is older. People have been telling stories since our languages would allow it and it is nice to imagine that these stories contained the spirit of Christmas. That sense of wonder and of doing good, of making others feel good, of feeling good ourselves. The spirit of Christmas is older than its modern, western version. And it is more important.

Coca-Cola gave the west its latest version of Santa Claus, a fitting story that explains the unfortunate commercialization of so much that makes up our lives. But we can look beyond the product of the season and find the simple reasons that an old story offers. Any old story will do, but we have to believe. We have to believe that our stories are important and meaningful. We have to search every once in a while for a jolly old man in a sleigh and for flying reindeer, and for that smile that we use to get when we were children.

Santa is an atheist. And Santa is a Christian. He is Jewish and Islamic. Santa is what we want him to be. Santa is that story that we remember as a child, and that excitement on those mornings we woke up early and ran to the tree. Santa sits at the dinner table when we invite him and dances around the tree when we let him. Santa Claus is a tradition that can bring us together over a meal or a drink. Invite him in and let your imagination fly. And let others do the same.

Merry Christmas.