Santa Claus; Father Christmas; Saint Nicholas; Sinter Klass

Meaning of Christmas ~ Part Three (final)

No matter what name you use, children all over the world, especially in North America seem to associate him with Christmas, often confusing him for the reason of celebrating Christmas. I have been wondering if it is mainly in North America that commercialization has somehow morphed Santa and Christmas together, or if it’s a worldwide epidemic? Would love to hear from readers outside of NA about how they celebrate the gift giving that occurs at the same time as the celebration of Christmas.

History tells us that St. Nicholas was born in 280 AD ~ a wealthy man who travelled the world helping those less fortunate. A Christian priest, who later became a bishop, eventually he would be named the patron saint of children, sailors, Russia and Greece. Being a humble man he would do his good deeds cloaked in the darkness of the night, so recipients would not learn his identity. By end of the 1400s, St Nicholas was the third most beloved religious figure, after Jesus and Mary.

In the 1500s people in England stopped worshipping St Nicholas and favored more another gift giving figure Father Christmas. Over the centuries, St. Nicholas' popularity grew, and people being people repeated stories about this great man and eventually the stories evolved to the modern day association with children. 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 pronounce Sinter Klass, this soon became Santa Klass, which finally evolved to what we call today, Santa Claus. The old bishop's cloak with miter, jeweled gloves and cozier were soon replaced with his red suit and clothing seen in other modern images.

Christmas is the celebration of God’s (as we call him in my part of the world) precious gift to us. Santa Claus or Father Christmas, as the name I first came to know him by ~actually is symbolic of ancient and modern day giving to others in “need”. So, I’ll leave you with this when did a DS; IPod; designer hand bag /shoes (ok I know ~ I’m not going to cast stones into my own glass house here..lol) or the latest “It” item go from a want to a need?
                   

How have we as educated, hard working individuals go from celebrating all that we have, to celebrating WANTING needing more? And somehow justifying the accumulation of disposable things instead of helping and giving to others in the true meaning of giving the basic needs ~ food, shelter, clothing, love and care and the small token gift?

For those who have followed all three parts of the Meaning of Christmas, thank you and thank you for your wonderful comments, I was starting to wonder if it was my ABI that was making me question things. I’m happy to read that many of you out there feel the same; there is a place for both Santa Claus and the celebration of Christmas, so let’s celebrate both in the true spirit of their respective origin .

So, make your lists for Santa Claus (I know I will) .. just remember the difference between WANT and NEED. To give in the TRUE MEANING of the season ~ give to those less fortunate. And certanily to celebrate the gift God gave us, all his Children ~ to learn to be good to each other, have faith and believe!!

You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

The Meaning of Christmas ~ Part Two

People say children is what Christmas is all about. But are we not all children ~ did we not all come into this world with parents (whether we were raised by them or not, we were someone’s child)? So, if Christmas is for children it should not matter whether it is your first day on earth or your last, Christmas and its meaning should always remain magical and precious in our hearts.

This time of year should be a celebration of a gift we were given when we were perhaps still brilliant stars in the sky, just waiting our turn to come down to earth. A gift that our creator (known in my part of the world as God) gave to us in the form of one brave and most blessed soul, to teach/remind us of forgiveness, faith, belief, and unconditional love. Whether you believe he was just a human like you and I, or what we were taught as children that he was conceived through an immaculate conception and was the son of God, in my humble opinion he was both. For are we all not children of the creator and did he not bleed as we all do?

As children many of us were either taught about this wonderful gift we were given, or we learned about it through other children who had learned this at school or through their parents. Yet, somehow the celebration of this precious gift became tangled up with Santa Claus and getting “material gifts”. Listen I’m not casting any stones, for I also have enjoyed nothing more than receiving gifts and a full stocking on Christmas morning. Even in the 4 post accident Christmas I have been blessed to celebrate, gifts remained a huge part of how the celebration of Christmas was defined, yet for some reason this Christmas is different. As I approach my 5th Christmas post accident, I want more … yes MORE from this time of celebration, than just filling the cash registers and padding the bottom line of retailers all across the country and thanks to the wonderful world of technology , the world.

This year I want that magical feeling of celebrating the birth of the blessed soul, whose purpose was to teach/remind us of how blessed we were and that we exist, because our creator wanted us to learn to give and love as well as to receive and allow others to love us. Somewhere along the way, using our “free will” we thought that we no longer needed the creator and when things didn’t quite work out the way we wanted them too … we remembered him , only to cast blame or to don’t his existence. But our creator so believed in us and loved us that he chose one of us to try and show us the way. We would learn his name to be Jesus … and he was born to this earth to help us, a gift from our creator. I won’t get into how we treated this precious gift we were bestowed (I’ll leave that for Easter), but I will say ~ Thank You!

I think the true meaning of giving has lost its definition. At the HHL household this year, we will be giving blankets; goats; fruit trees; one year school supplies for little ones; soccer balls etc. to children who are not as fortunate as the children we buy gifts for every year ~ who have the latest of everything and more ~ on behalf of them via Plan Canada and World Vision holiday giving opportunities, through which Mr. G and I sponsor children. Our little Angels will still be receiving a gift to open Christmas morning along with the certificates of what was donated on their behalf, it will just be something more practical then the latest electronic toy, or gadget.

This year I will be asking each little one what Christmas really represents ~ and Santa Claus or getting presents is not the answer I will be looking for. I hope that this helps to make the little Angels in our lives a little more aware of giving and not receiving… for the real gift is the feeling they will get to see someone smile.

So, I would like to end this post with; this year as you go to empty out your wallets on material things, please stop and think about the family down the street, that will go cold this winter , because they need to eat and there isn’t enough money for both; the children that will not go to school, because they have no winter clothes; the children who will wake up Christmas day wondering why Santa didn’t stop by their house ~ like the other children, leaving them thinking they must be really naughty to not have even received a lump of coal ~ which they could perhaps have used to keep warm if for only a minute. Then I would like you to think about one thing that you or your child could really do without ~ and take that same amount of money and help make a difference in the life of a child or family.

There will be a Part Three in the days to come. For Part One click here.

The Meaning of Christmas ~ Part One

This time of the year has always been thrilling time for me; the parties to attend and host; the beautiful window displays at Holt's; Santa Claus parade; skating at Nathan Phillips Square; hot chocolate;my birthday celebrationS ... yes with being born 6 days before Christmas ... one took advantage of the WHOLE month and celebrated! Christmas for me also meant lots of wonderful packages to wrap and open.  

The past Christmas post accident have been much more low key and this year as I look back its amazing, though I knew the meaning  of Christmas, how easily the commercialization had taken hold. Things that should have held special meaning were really everyday occurrence and had lost much of the lustre they should have held. Celebration was the main event, but really what were we celebrating???

This year more than ever I'm feeling something is missing. Don't get me wrong a little blue box in my stocking would certainly be welcomed... but I want more!!!

Have you found over the years, that the simple meaning of Christmas has been tucked away at the back of a closet collecting dust?