The True Story of Santa Claus

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara - a Greek area at the time, which is now situated on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. After his release in 325, Nicholas dedicated his life to help others. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church.

Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of St. Nicholas' life and deeds. These accounts help us understand his extraordinary character and why he is so beloved and revered as protector and helper of those in need.

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. Not being able to provide a dowry for his three daughters, he knew they would not find good husbands, and were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home, providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, were told to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.

Nuns in France began leaving treats on St. Nicholas Eve, December 5th, for the small children of poor families. St. Nicholas' gifts were usually good things to eat: apples, oranges, nuts, and eventually cookies and sweets. The custom quickly spread across Europe and was adopted by both rich and poor.

The name Santa Claus was derived from the Dutch Sinter Klass pronunciation of St Nicholas. Early Dutch settlers in New York (once called New Amsterdam) brought their traditions of St Nicholas. As children from other countries tried to pronunce Sinter Klass, this soon became Santa Klass, which was settled as Santa Claus. The old bishop's red cloak was soon replaced with his red suit and clothing seen in other modern images.

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

The Little Sticky Note

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” ~ George Iles

Last night I was reading of a young girl who walked around with a bag of pennies and dropped them randomly for people to find. When someone asked her why she did it, her reply was just as candid as it was profound: “I want everyone to feel lucky today.”

Reading that story made me smile, and it took me back to a few years ago when, with no specific motive, I wrote down the words “I believe” on a whole bunch of sticky notes and left them in different places I went – doctor’s office, grocery store, post office. I don’t know what, if anything, happened to those notes, but I know that one of them made a difference in one person’s life. This particular day, I had stopped by a drug store near my house at the time, and dropped a few of the notes here and there, without paying attention where I left them. Since I went to this store quite often, and was pretty much familiar with most of the people who worked there, I noticed one day, a couple of months later, that one of them was missing from the team; I inquired at the cash register, and I was told that she had left.

A few more months passed, and fate allowed me to run into this young lady one evening at the grocery store. She looked radiant and recognized me immediately. I asked her how life was treating her and she replied that she had never been so happy - her husband had gone back to work after recovering from a terrible accident, and she was back in school to finish her degree which she had to abandon when he no longer could financially provide for the two of them. After his accident, he could not work for several weeks, and they had fallen behind with their bills. If that wasn’t enough, her own health was not good, and her diabetes – a condition she was diagnosed with since her teen years – had taken a turn for the worse.

She told me that one day, a few months before, she had gone to work feeling particularly depressed; everything in her world seemed to have lost its colors and she could not see any light at the end of the tunnel she was walking through. Until she saw a bright yellow sticky note near a pile of sweaters stacked on a sale table. “It was as if in that moment God was nudging me to go on when I felt I couldn’t walk any more” she said, “those two little words - I believe – stared me down and I suddenly knew it would all pass.”

After finding the note, her attitude changed, and she took each obstacle not as a defeat but as a test to her faith. She focused on the good things she had in her life – a loving husband, a good manager who allowed her to stay home when her husband needed her, and the fact that despite everything, they had enough money to live on. When her husband went for a check-up a couple of weeks later, his doctor was amazed at his progress, and within a few more weeks he was able to work again. Her own blood sugar was back under control as well.

When we think of helping someone, the first thing that comes to mind is that we don’t have enough money to share with others, but physical outreach isn’t the only way to help our fellow humans. Everyone is rich enough to share a kind word, or to give a gift of hope when others can no longer find it for themselves. Even a penny, or a little sticky note, can bring light where there is only darkness.

Be careful what you wish for...you might get it

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


I believe that prayers are answered. I also believe that Universe indulges us exactly with what we ask – if we are not clear when we formulate our request, the result will be just as ambiguous as the petition. Among a list of situations I have personally experienced, I think three of them really drive the point home.

As I explain the first situation, I need to backtrack a bit to the time when I first finished writing my novel. After many rejections, it was suggested to me that I should hire a professional editor to clean the story and make it appealing to major publishers. I had no clue how to find an editor, but I knew exactly what I wanted in one and told a couple of friends about it. Just a few days later – and a lot of prayers detailing exactly what I was looking for – a friend called me. She told me that another friend of hers had gotten back in touch with her after years they hadn’t talked, and she thought of me the moment she reconnected with the old friend, since this lady was a freelance editor and my friend knew I was looking for one. We hit it off immediately and an amazing professional relationship was born; if I went around the world twice with a flashlight I could not find another jewel like her.

The second situation involves my oldest son. In first grade he had a teacher from hell. The poor kid cried every morning at the thought of being in her class, and no matter how many times I talked to the school, little changed. One night, I went over a friend and we decided to meditate together. In my spiritual tradition, I was taught to “act out” prayers to send out stronger vibes into the Universe. A Barbie doll was the closest thing I could think of which reminded me of the type of person I wanted as my son’s teacher - young, always smiling and kind. I threw the doll into the fire we had built outside and mentally asked for Stephen to find a teacher who could be just as sweet as I picture Barbie to be. A couple of months went by, and Stephen got a new teacher; a young lady who had just started her teaching career, with long blond hair, blue eyes, and the sweetest smile ever. Needless to say, we had a wonderful year; the new teacher was everything I had hoped for, and she was just as beautiful inside as she was outside.

The third and final situation is funny, if one thinks of it. After my novel was sold, my mind started moving to the next goal, and I began to fantasize about getting my writing into movies. I think I phrased my wish just like that, and that’s exactly what I got. My novel didn’t become a movie –which is what I meant – but I was contacted by someone who read my blog to see if I could help with a few scenes in an independent film. Still in reference to the novel, I tried to broadcast good energy out to the Universe, and I visualized selling a whole lot of copies. In my fantasy, I saw the publisher write down a number – 100,000 – and just about a week after that, I dug out an old money clip from the sandbox at the nearby playground; it was gold-plated, and on the top it had the design of a 100,000 banknote!

So, before we send out a prayer or a wish of any kind, let’s remember to be clear in what we are asking, as we just might get what Universe thought we meant.