Catholic Fundamentalists picture God programming away in three dimensions. He’s the One Who programmed planets, comets, squirrels, tidal waves, methane, corn, cotton, zinc, gold, blizzards, and whatever He wanted popped up. He, Himself, does not do the hard work of actually “programming” the particulate accretions to appear, nor is He The One Who is making them move around.
He has programmed powerful programmers and sub-programmers of various skill-levels. They are the ones who do the hard work of putting all the programs together so that the seamless package we call “the universe” appears and moves around us in space and time as we ourselves to wander within that Program.
To Catholic Fundamentalists, God’s Holy Programming Company is easier to understand when pictured as Santa’s workshop. Elves, of course, symbolize the many levels of angels who do God’s work of providing good things for us. The notion of unpaid creatures laboring mightily to provide children with presents is symbolized perfectly by the elves, whose joy comes from obedience and whose obedience comes from joy.
We should be imagining Santa’s elves as working in large factory structure, with shift foremen, plant managers, accountants, R & D departments, quality control inspectors, engineers, and all the other corporate divisions necessary to get so much work done.
The speed with which presents are delivered symbolizes the six-day Programming Period that the Book of Genesis describes. Those who are used to thinking of God as a Programmer of Particles can appreciate, and believe in, the speed of Creation.
The entire story of Santa, elves, and reindeer, making and delivering gifts in an unbelievably short time period, is a miraculously wonderful way to prepare children for learning about our loving God, the Programmer Who had His angels program all Creation for our edification and delight.
