... He's making a list and checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice ...
'I just LOVE Santa Claus. For me, he's part of what makes Christmas Christmas,' said Sam. She and her friends were in the study area of their school library, doing some research on Christmas traditions around the world for a class assignment.
'Sure, I can't deny that,' Jim responded, 'but he takes people's attention away from the real reason for Christmas - Jesus' birth.'
'You see, that's my point - I don't think that he does,' Sam replied.
Judy, who had been listening to the conversation, cut in, 'I'm curious - why do you think that?'
'Well, you see, I read a few years ago that the Santa Claus character is actually based on a real person,' Sam answered. 'His name was Nikolaos, and he was a Greek bishop sometime back in the first few centuries of the church. He became known for giving gifts to the poor and needy anonymously, asking for no recognition in return - and this is essentially what Santa Claus symbolises.'
Song extract from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
reminds me of when I was living in Flanders, the link to the original 'father Christmas' was much stronger
ReplyDeleteI must say, I was pleased to hear on BBC 2 radio this morning (while driving down from Chesterfield) quite a discussion about Saint Nicholas and what various churches do on the 6th December. It was very interesting.
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