Hello, Dear Reader:
Being Christmas eve and all, it seemed like an appropriate topic for today. This ‘He Says, She Says…‘ post is going to be primarily a ‘He Says’, and it’s likely to be our last blog post of 2010, so I’ll add in a greeting from Marcia as well: However you celebrate it, we wish a joyous Holiday season to you and to those near and dear to your heart.
When you look like me, a lot of kids call you Santa Claus. I’m also very fortunate to have my own Mrs. Claus. Being called Santa may be partly because of the white hair and beard, but I still remember one day over 15 years ago when I was standing at an ATM outside (in July) wearing a headband, sunglasses, denim jacket and jeans, and a girl passing by called out, “Look mom, it’s Santa Claus!” “No, I don’t think so.” was the reply. “Yeah, it is!” Mom was thinking ‘Hells Angels’ was more likely, but the little girl could see through the disguise. I also remember the first time a little one, too young to talk, walked by with his dad in hand. As they walked away the little one began saying, “Ho Ho Ho. Ho Ho Ho…” His dad didn’t know what he was going on about, but we did.
However, this isn’t a post about how to look like Santa Claus, it’s about how to be Santa Claus, no matter what you look like. And that’s something anyone can do, no matter your faith or beliefs. The ‘father’ of the modern day Santa Claus was St. Nicholas, a Grecian man who lived in Lycia in the 4th century. Born to wealthy parents, they died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle. As he grew up St. Nick was a pious man, and very generous with what he had. He also encouraged his associates to be generous as well. There are a number of stories about his life; this is one of my favourites… Continue Reading →