Miracle on 34th Street is everyone's favorite movie at this time of year. It takes place during the Christmas season in New York City. A Macy's Department Store Santa Claus claims he is the real Santa. His name was Kris Kringle.
I first saw this movie when I was 8 years old, and it has had a lifetime impact on me. There is one scene I remember vividly. When Kris was hired, he was instructed to steer parents to buy Christmas gifts from Macy's. When one child on Santa's lap asked for a particular present that was not carried by Macy's, Santa told the child's mother that Gimbels store carried that toy and the mother thanked him profusely. She told the head of the toy department about Santa's guidance to shop at another store and said that she will become a loyal Macy's customer. Eventually, Macy's adopted a policy of steering customers to competitors if the store did not have a particular product. Soon Gimbels adopted a similar policy and in time Kris Kringle is able to help these competitors reconcile.
I absorbed the lesson of choosing collaboration and service over the prevailing norm of being competitive. Santa had demonstrated how doing something counterintuitive, like recommending competitors, could lead to greater customer loyalty as well as to improved relationships with those competitors. It was no longer business as usual. There were greater principles at work -- such as "peace on Earth" and "goodwill to humankind."
Since that time, I have tried to live this lesson of service first. It isn't always easy. I used to run the Center for Spirit at Work at the University of New Haven. I was approached by someone who wanted to open a similar center at a Canadian university, and they wondered if they could use the same name. At first I balked. My center was the first such center ever, and I was afraid people might get confused if there was more than one center with that name. But I remembered Santa's lesson, and realized that the world would be better off if there were lots of "Centers for Spirit at Work." I agreed, and soon there were similar centers throughout the United States and in other countries. There was a real sense of a movement forming: leaders, researchers, authors and consultants all became involved in creating the field of workplace spirituality and faith at work.
We have the opportunity this time of year to reflect on the life and teachings of Jesus, who taught us to think of others first before ourselves. He lived a life of service, never thinking of his own safety, well-being or retirement plan. He didn't think about "getting ahead." He simply taught us to love one another and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
As we move into the New Year, it is my prayer that we can take these lessons to heart. The world is so full of strife and competitiveness. It could use a few more people acting like Santa Claus at Macy's.
Judi Neal is the founding director (retired) of the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the University of Arkansas, and is the author of several books on workplace spirituality, including Creating Enlightened Organizations: Four Gateways to Spirit at Work.
NAN Religion on 01/04/2020