A Christmas Story: Is Santa Real?

20 Dec


Father Christmas, Chris Kringle, Old Saint Nick, Santa Claus…whatever name you may know him by, this jolly old man has been loved by many throughout the centuries. Born in the 3rd century in what is known today as Turkey, Nicholas of Myra, was thoughtful, kind and sweet even as an infant.

He was raised as a devout Christian and used all his money to assist the less fortunate, sick and dying. He spent his life serving God and soon became Bishop of Myra as a young man.  The legend of Santa Claus as a jolly old soul that gives gifts to children was actually created from the compassion and generosity of this Bishop. Nicholas was known to be slightly on the smaller scale in weight and height but was well known for his bushy white beard and long flowing red robes. The image of Santa Claus that we have today was actually created through the generations well after Nicholas had died.

 The most popular story of Nicholas, is how he helped a friend of his family’s. This friend, who had lost everything, had three young daughters to support, and was being forced to sell the oldest one into slavery to support the younger two. The night before the daughter was to be sold,  Nicholas snuck to the house and threw a bag of gold through the window.  Some say the gold landed in socks or shoes left by the fire to dry. He then vanished before anyone could see him. Come morning the man found the gold and was able to save his daughter and provide for his family for a whole year. Nicholas continued on the tradition of providing gold and presents of need to this family and from what legend says many more families as well for years to come.

What Nicholas loved more than anything, besides his faith in God, was helping others. He especially loved to make children happy and was often known to give them gifts and candy just to see them smile. Through all of his giving he would tell the children and their parents that this was a gift from God and proclaim Jesus’ love for them through his generosity.

After Nicholas died others took over where he left off and this tradition of gift giving, generosity and Christ’s love continues to this day every year.  There are many versions of this story out there and the common theme in all of them is how one man’s love for God showed in his acts of kindness to all around him.

My prayer for the world is that we all continue in this manner and seek to help the less fortunate around us however we can and to always look to God and share his love and faith with the world. May everyone have a wonderful Christmas this year full of love, joy, peace and faith.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

One Response to “A Christmas Story: Is Santa Real?”

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