There are no presents under the tree for him. There is no place set at the Christmas lunch or for dinner and yet he is the most generous giver of all. Even when there is an unexpected guest he somehow finds the time to sneak away and wrap a present.
He is the Secret Santa or Kris Kringle, and though he was cloned from the Original Santa or St Nicholas, he has become the the perfect reneissance Santa, even following you to your workplace as the gathering momentum of the Christmas spirit takes hold.
He has also become the means to control the spending on the ever widening circle of friends and family, as well as our social sphere and work colleagues that over the years have somehow crept into our Christmas shopping list. A way of combating the very marketing that he was created to serve. More distressing is the amount of Secret Santa or Kris Kringle poems which are at best on a par with Dad jokes that will be read out loud to all at the office party.
But there is a new kid on the block. He has been hiding in the background supressed by his excessive Christmas toil. Now emerging to challenge the rise and popularity of the Secret Santa and to provide another spending outlet for us to serve. It is the Elf on the Shelf and he comes with accessories.
This Elf has neglected his toy making duties and snuck into our homes and offices. He sees and hears more than Google or Apple and reports directly to Santa of our naughtiness or niceness and whether we are deserving or not. He even has his own rules to follow.
Changing from his traditional subserviant green to red, this Elf's rise in popularity has been greatly enhanced by the online sharing of his excapades and he has quickly become very naughty with antics well outside of his original duty statement. Some of his midnight office pranks colourfully displayed by the photocopies left on the office pin board, twitter and facebook.
Amoungst all this Christmas jockularity it is important to remember the real Christmas. If your belief is of western Religion, it is very specific but whether you're religious or not, Christmas is a time to appreciate and be appreciated. To give hope and have hope within yourself. To consider those around you and those far away or in troubled parts of the world.
We use this precious time to make the world seem that little smaller. To remind us of our faith, in ourselves or in our God.