‘Santa’ gives bullied boy confidence to pray in public

Santa actor Cris Larsen, who once brought the Dori Monson Show bags and bags of corn, joined the show once again just before Thanksgiving to share a heartwarming pre-holiday story.

He was at a Puget Sound military base where he had just finished playing Santa for the children. He had changed out of the Santa suit to eat lunch with the public affairs officer and the commander, but with his white beard and red t-shirt, he still bore quite a bit of resemblance to Old Saint Nick.

“I looked like Santa, doggone it,” he laughed.

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Before eating with his friends, Larsen did something rather unusual, at least in this day and age.

“I’m just going to say it out loud — sometimes I pray,” he said. “I pray before I eat.”

The action drew attention, though perhaps not the kind of attention Larsen may have expected. A woman came over and asked him if he had really just prayed before he ate, and if he was the person who had just played Santa. Larsen replied in the affirmative.

The woman asked Larsen if he could come over and talk to her son, who had recently been teased at daycare for praying in front of the other kids. Larsen agreed and asked the boy which prayer he normally says before a meal. He then began to join the boy in reciting the common mealtime prayer.

Bless us, o Lord

and these Thy gifts

which we are about to receive

from Thy bounty

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Larsen said that the boy was surprised to find that his new friend knew the prayer and could recite it with him.

“His eyes looked up at me like, ‘Santa knows our prayer,'” Larsen said. “And it was just a moment where you saw this little guy kind of grow a little bit.”

As Larsen said goodbye, the little boy grabbed Larsen’s hand and told him that he knew another prayer. Joining hands with the boy’s parents, the group recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Just last week, the woman from the military restaurant ran into Larsen again and gave him an update. She told him that her son had gotten his daycare friends involved in prayer every day before snack-time “because Santa said it was okay.”

“I just think that, at this time in our world, this should be shared,” Larsen said.

“At a time when people of faith are routinely getting ridiculed or, like this kid, ostracized for their faith, that’s a very cool story,” Dori agreed. “I love hearing that.”

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