For the past 15 years I’ve played Santa Claus at my Dad’s church in a low-income section of Philadelphia.  It’s a treat to see the children’s faces and their smiles. I really enjoy doing this, but it wasn’t always that way.

My first outing as Santa, found me interacting with the children, asking if they had been good, while handing out donated presents. At one point, after handing a child his gift, a mother looked at me scornfully and asked, “Is ...