Hello Friends,
Saint Nicholas and Jesus have a lot in common, I think. Iβve been reading this book about the real Santa Claus and the parallels to the story of Jesus are so interesting in so many ways.
These are some thoughts that would get me thrown out of church β¦ but Iβve already been thrown out of church so, oh well.
HA!
Much love to you all and Merry Christmas.
Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE
When Nicholas died stories began to circulate about him. Some of these stories were based upon factual information of things people witnessed and saw with their own eyes or heard with their own ears, and those facts were then layered with different versions of the story along with wild additions being grafted in here and there.
Other stories were completely made up ... they were the things that legends are made of with absolutely zero regard for historical accuracy.
And ... this is to be expected, no?
Much like we've said regarding the stories of Jesus and the stories of the Bible, the stories don't need to be "historically accurate" in order for them to be true, right? Focusing on whether or not they are historically accurate robs them of their truth, of their power, of their magic, for these stories ...
The stories of Jesus.
The stories of Nicholas.
... these stories (more than anything else, I think) reveal deep emotional, psychological, and spiritual truths about human beings - they reveal our soul, they reveal eternal truths ... things that are true about all of us in some way, shape or form.
Just because the stories are "made up" or parts of the stories are "made up", that doesn't make them deceptive or useless or any less powerful or true.
I mean.
Yeah, it would be very deceptive if the teller of a Jesus story, for instance, said, "I'm here to give you a literal and historical play by play of what Jesus did in his life. You can bet your life on it, this is EXACTLY the way it happened" ... and then we found out it was all a lie.
BUT.
No Biblical writer really says that that's his goal, right? No writer really starts out by saying anything like that (Luke says something like that, I know, but I'm not sure that's what the statement means - a thought for another day). Rather, the cultures that those books were written in show us that the people in those cultures used creative story telling to reveal important truths about being human. Unlike us and our Westernized mindset, they didn't care much about relaying historical facts, figures, and information.
AND.
Because those important truths are so evident in the writings we have, this is why they have endured throughout history and will likely endure until the end of time.
SO.
Just as stories began to develop about Jesus (that we can find not only in the Bible, but in lots of others Gospels that have been discovered) so stories also began to develop about Nicholas.
Stories of him making grain appear out of nowhere for a poor family.
Stories of him saving more people from execution.
Stories of him appearing to people in their dreams.
Stories of his spirit appearing out in stormy seas to help frightened sailors.
... Much like the stories of Jesus, these stories grew and grew and grew and soon he became known as "Saint Nicholas", someone who was so admired and loved and revered for his kindness, his generosity, and his willingness to help everyone and anyone.
And so when Jordan no longer "believes in Santa" I'll tell her that I believe in Santa KIND OF in the same way that I believe in Jesus - the stories about both of them are wild and interesting and although we may wonder if they are historically true, we can rest assured that they are true to the human condition.
In other words, they speak to deep parts of our humanity, they make our souls leap, they create a longing inside of us ... and that longing is a feeling that we begin to recognize when we are young so that we may continue to follow it when we are old.
The wonder.
The excitement.
The peace.
The JOY ... which is Jordan's middle name.
The stories of Santa create all sorts of joy in the hearts of children (and adults!) and that joy is a feeling that is all too easy to lose and forget as we grow.
"Hold on to that joy, Jordan Joy. And when you feel sad or in the moments that life feels overwhelming and scary, may you reach into the big bag of Christmas memories that we've created in our family and feel a little bit of the magic that makes its way through our home this time of year ... and I hope it will forever bring a smile to your face."