I know it is nowhere near Christmas but I was have a discussion with a colleague and he was going on and on about Santa Claus and Christmas. And, as you might know by now I do not teach my children about Santa Claus. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, or at least that's what it's supposed to be. Where it get confusing to people I think is that somewhere along the lines the day has now become associated as a celebration of giving, in the spirit and tradition of Santa Claus. I take issue with this, Santa Claus is not real (I'm sorry to be the one to tell you), but the spirit of St Nicholas is alive and well. The thing is that I have no problem with St Nicholas, but I do not believe that it is appropriate to confuse the two events, the feast of St Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th, not December 25th. Now I know there are many who will argue that Jesus was not really born on December 25th, but here is the thing, that is the date that has been chosen and so I will continue to celebrate it on that day. There is no issue of giving gifts on Christmas but the mass commercialization is not about Christmas, it is far more about Santa Claus. This year we will be celebrating both days but in the spirit they should be, not the excesses that the retail industry has set.
1 comment:
We have the same sorts of discussions here. Last year, we gave the kids gifts on the 6th. (St. Nicholas left them in stockings, of course.) We didn't give them anything else on Christmas, though there were many presents from grandparents that day!
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