Advent, Day 5

Okay, I'm reclaiming Santa. My first year as a Christian, I had a hard time figuring out why so many Christians disowned Santa. I have even a harder time figuring it out now. Today, I had a conversation with one such Christian, and the best I can come up with is that they believe Santa represents the commercialism of Christmas and is in direct opposition to Christmas' real meaning -- the celebration of the birth of Christ.

In all honesty, though, as a non-Christian, I did not think of Santa as a commercial being. I thought of Santa as a benevolent being. I know that in school we learned about St. Nicholas, but I have reinvestigated. What I read about St. Nicholas was very encouraging. Check it out at the link below.

Apparently, Nicholas was born into a devout, wealthy Christian family, and became a strong follower of Christ. His parents died in an epidemic and Nicholas, obeying Jesus' instructions to sell what you own and give to the poor, used his entire inheritance to help those in need.

There is much more information on the site referenced below. Although I have not done exhaustive research regarding Santa, I am persuaded to believe that he was as described above. Many differentiate between St. Nicholas and Santa Claus - I don't. For all those who claim that Santa is all about commercialism in North America, I disagree. But I hope that those with those claims don't participate in the very commercialism to which they are so opposed.

"Santa" means saint and it seems to me Nicholas is a pretty good example of what we as saints often claim we should be like. As such, if our children were to model themselves after St. Nicholas / Santa Claus, I think they would be well on their way to modeling themselves after Jesus.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=235