The journals of Lois Lyda. Finding beauty in the imperfections of motherhood, life, faith.







Thursday, December 22, 2011

the real santa

I had an opportunity to be a missionary for Santa recently. well, the real Santa, St. Nicholas, that is. it happened that on december 8, a christmas party was scheduled for the children's school, where we had to share a family christmas tradition. since we just celebrated st. nicholas day on december 6th, it seemed perfect for the children to share about our unique (to the west) tradition. it really is amazing how few know about good ole st. nic. so i thought i'd do some enlightening here, too! of course it goes without saying that this is a little late coming. nothing in my life happens on time at the moment, please forgive!

A brief history:
Nicholas was born in Turkey in the 3rd century to wealthy parents who died in an epidemic when he was still young. Nicholas used his whole inheritance to help the poor, taking Jesus words seriously to "go sell all you have." He became a bishop of the Church (pre-denominational), and was one of the bishops disputing the Arian heresy at the first Council of Nicea in 325 (where Nicean Creed was developed). He was imprisoned and persecuted for his faith, and died on December 6.

How we celebrate:
To practice the spirit of St. Nicholas' giving in secret, on the evening of December 5th, the children helped me assemble stockings filled with oranges, candy canes, and gold coins, with a handmade card attached wishing Happy St. Nicholas Day in cheesy verse coined by mom. When daddy came home, we all bundled up and went to our neighbor's doors, attached the gift to the door handles, then "rang 'n run" away. (The only time we ever allow them to do that!!)

When we got home, we told stories over dinner about St. Nicholas.

We told the story of the three daughters, whose father was poor, so poor, he could not afford a dowry. And without a dowry, the daughters could not marry, and were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Bishop Nicholas heard of their struggles, and late one night tossed some bags of gold from his inheritance through the window, landing in their stockings (or shoes) that were hung by the fire to dry. When they awoke in the morning, they discovered the gifts of gold, tucked in their stockings, and given in secret.
(now you know where the tradition of the stocking, the candy cane (bishops staff), and the oranges/gold coins comes from!).

So, before bed, we put our shoes at the door, and filled them with carrots for St. Nicholas' white horse. When we woke up in the morning we found small treats inside. This year, ben got a much longed for pumice stone, and the kids got a small toy and gold coins (thank you Dollar Tree!). Our plan was to go to Liturgy at church, but we didn't make it out the door on time, though a valiant attempt was made! But this would have made our day complete.

New this year, was our attempt to make St. Nicholas Day our primary gift-giving day. We began our gradual transition last year; perhaps by next it will truly be so. By moving our primary gift-giving to this day, we keep Christ as the focus of Christmas, and break up the "long wait" of advent (what we refer to as "the nativity fast") with some excitement. This year, our "big" gift, the backyard playhouse Ben built, was presented to them. The day was rounded off with some dear friends of ours coming over for a celebratory dinner. We played a game with the kids called "pass the money bag". It is played under the same premise as "Pass the Parcel" except when the music stops, instead of getting to pull a gold coin out of the stocking for yourself, you have to give it away to someone else who doesn't have one. In this way, we practiced the spririt of St. Nicholas giving!

Every year, St. Nicholas and his Nameday traditions become more and more dear to my heart. It saddens me that a man who was an example of compassion and generosity - giving in secret, alert to the real needs of others and expecting nothing in return - a man who lived a model Christian life, has been taken out of churches and into consumer "temples"; has been reduced from substance to superficiality, to a mere marketing tool. I am engaged in reclaiming the whole story of this incredible Christian Bishop of the Church. Santa's not bad, but St. Nicholas is so much better!


* aside: Typically during the Nativity season we stay far away from malls, or any of the "holiday hubbub", but if we do stumble across a mall-deity (ie: Santa), i very simply say "that's st. nicholas". i don't bother explaining why or how his Bishop robes got traded out by the Americans for elvish gear, or what he is doing posing in store fronts of the wealthy instead of ministering to the poor in secret. we love the real St. Nicholas, and are not at all intimidated by the watered down sub-par version. infact, we have just as much fun without him!

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