A Christmas Thought

So first I would like to sincerely apologize for not being on for over a month now. I've been extremely busy and also extremely distracted, but that was no excuse to abandon my blog entirely.
I thought I'd first start off with something appropriate for the time of year...Christmas! Yes, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat...everything at school is super busy and hectic, but I'm taking a little time to sit down and write this.




Yesterday we had our Christmas chapel at school! It was beautiful. First we watched this hilarious video that you absolutely must watch because it is wonderful.

After that we played some beautiful Christmas carols and I got to be a part of it in the worship band. It was a great way to get in the mood for Christmas.

But the part I enjoyed the very most was when the university president got up and spoke. His message was very unique.

I sat back in my chair waiting to hear the nativity story as always, already thinking about a story I was in the process of writing to occupy my attention. I wasn't really interested in listening to the Christmas story, even though most of the time I love it. It was just one of those days.

However, instead our university president started out with talking about Black Friday. Alright, that was interesting. I could listen to that part and then tune out again when he got to the boring nativity stuff, right?

But he didn't really get to the boring nativity stuff...not entirely. Instead he started to talk about a subject that startled me...Santa Claus.

So most of the time there's kind of a negative image of Santa in the church. People get all annoyed and start talking about how first of all its lying to tell your kids that there is a Santa (which goes against Biblical principle) and secondly he takes away from the whole idea of Christmas because Christmas is supposed to be focused on Christ. You even see Santa's hung on crosses. I very distinctly remember having a Sunday school teacher who refused to celebrate Christmas with any aspect of popular culture. He said the only thing they did on Christmas was read the nativity story.

So as our speaker began talking I was surprised, but I quickly settled into the mindset that he would start talking about how Santa should be ignored and how Christ was the center of Christmas.

Instead he wove a very different story. He told of a man who loved Christ so much that he wanted to demonstrate that love in his daily life through various acts of giving.

This man found a family in his town with three daughters who had no dowries. When each daughter came of age he'd leave a sack of gold on the doorstep for them. He also never took any credit for it, doing the deed in the dead of night.

The father of the three girls was curious so as the youngest came of age he finally decided to catch the benefactor in the act. He waited up every night waiting for the gold to arrive. But the Christian man had heard about this so the night he brought the gold he climbed up on the roof and dumped it down the chimney. It landed on the girls stocking where they had been left to dry by the fireplace.

Saint Nicholas of Myra

Saint Nicholas. We often forget he was a Saint. He's developed into this fat, jolly old man, but the true story of Santa Claus is one of a man who loved Christ so much that he demonstrated it in his acts of giving. Our president left us with a simple message: this Christmas think a little bit more about who you give to, and less about what you get. Christmas has been turned into a commercial holiday. It is all about getting, and we have forgotten the aspect of giving, which is the true spirit of Christmas. God gave us Christ to save us, and so in the spirit of rememberance for that gift we should give daily (not just at Christmas) to others. This can be through our actions, our words, our help, our touch, or through physical gifts. There are so many possible ways to give. Keep that in mind as you go throughout your holiday.

Merry Christmas.