Yes Virginia, There IS a Santa Claus, and a Mickey Mouse Too!
At this time of year there is a split among parents. One group wants to do all they can to keep the "fantasy" of Santa Claus alive. The other group believes in "telling the truth" and making sure there child knows there is no such fairytale person as Santa. What you do is up to you but I want to share my opinion. I am not forcing my opinion on anyone. (Stating that for the record J)
I believe in Santa. Yes, as an adult I still believe! I believe in the historical facts of the person of Saint Nickolas. I believe in his spirit of caring, compassionate heart that wishes to only share love and spread joy that is the heart of Santa Claus. But, it is more than that! Santa has many positive traits we need to teach our children.
Let's start out with the truth about Santa Claus. Around 300 AD a young man, named Nickolas lost his parents. His parents were rich merchants and he inherited their business and money. He was a faithful believer and went to church often. This is recorded fact. He became a priest and then a bishop.
Around 320 AD there was a Council called to codify the Christian faith. It was called the Council of Nicaea. At this Council the Divinity of Christ was called into question and discussed. Some of the Council wanted to call Christ a good man and teacher but deny His Divinity. Bishop Nickolas of Mira (now called Turkey) actually got in a fist fight with other bishops demanding they come to the understanding Christ was God come to earth, in other words divine. Bishop Nickolas was a defender of the Christian faith. This Bishop Nickolas is the same Nickolas as the young rich man that became a priest.
There are many other wonderful stories about Bishop Nickolas. He gave money to 3 young sisters, one at a time so they would not be sold into slavery for lack of a dowry. He slipped the money through open windows and tossed it down chimneys where it landed in stockings hung to dry. He gave each of them a dowry so they could marry. He gave gifts to the poor at Christmas so they would remember that Christ gave them Himself as the greatest gift of all, to all men. There are many more strange legends about the man behind the myth. But going back to the original story about the 3 girls. He gave the gifts in secrete but their father finally found him out. Nicolas made the father swear to tell no one the secret. The father kept the secret until Nicolas' death. When Nicolas died the father started giving gifts, to others in need in secret but gave them in Nicolas' name. That was the start of people "being" Saint Nicolas.
Over the years there have been many changes to the story of Saint Nicolas and even his name changed. The name changed because when his story came to a new country the people would change the name into their language. The Dutch call him Sinterklaas and when that came to the early colonies of America they said the name Santa Claus. So you can truly say to your child Santa Claus existed and tell them the story of the wonderful man who loved the Lord and people.
There are another reasons I believe that children should be encouraged to believe in Santa Claus and yes, even Mickey Mouse! Children need to have whimsy to deal with the struggles of life. Even a little believe in Santa and Mickey will encourage that. I believe that this ability to keep the childlike faith in Santa and Mickey will help encourage believe in God, an almighty power that can and will help each and every one of us if we believe and ask.
I believe if you can't hold onto the childlike whimsy you can't believe in a God that can and will do miracles for you every day. I know this is true because of amazing things that have happened in my life. I'll share with anyone that asks so feel free to ask me.
I'm sorry if this offends but at this time of year even more than others I share my faith. I'm not preaching or demanding you believe as I do, I'm just sharing what I believe. You can take it or leave it as you will. I will not be offended even if you tell me you do not believe and don't wish to.
If you wish to ask me any questions feel free to e-mail me at PrankingPixie@yahoo.com.
My Christmas book, An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas is out!!
You can find for all formats at
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94784
And for the Nook at
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
It is also available at the ITunes store for IPod, IPad and IPhone
It soon will be up at other sites such as Amazon
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