Christmas – Behind the Beard

by Kidman J. Williams

“It’s Christmas time pretty baby!” Who doesn’t get a warm feeling when Elvis Presley playfully declares that on the airwaves through your car speaker? Even if you aren’t a pretty baby, your cheeks get a little red and your body starts getting excited with the anticipation of all the presents you are going to get and give.

There are many people who have totally missed the spirit of the holiday with cynicism, miserliness, and a grumpy bah humbug demeanor. I’m not even including all the internet trolls that have something nasty to say about Jesus along with their annual bitch-a-thon about how Christmas was a pagan holiday that the Christians corrupted in order to convert them (of course they did) to the church.

When you were just a child you couldn’t wait to wake up on Christmas morning. You’d first run over to see if the fat jolly man ate your mom’s cookies (keep your mind out of the gutter) like it was some sort of substantial proof that he really was there. We would start shaking all the presents under the tree to figure out what Santa Claus may have brought us before your parents rolled out of bed because they had been wrapping all of them last night.

It was pure magic.

Then we all found out that Cringle wasn’t real. Some of us found out from our parents, some of us found out at school and got made fun of for still believing in Santa. I don’t still hold that heavy in my heart. Not at all PETER AQUAVIVA! You mangled turtle turd.

For a lot of people, Christmas just becomes another day. A day that sucks our wallets dry and drains our patience for humanity. We can thank mass marketing firms for that. But Christmas is supposed to do the opposite. It is supposed to rejuvenate our faith and our spirits. Also, it promotes us to be just a little more selfless.

We all know that Santa Claus and his many different names were manufactured from the Dutch and their Sinter Klaas (translated to Saint Nicholas). This Saint was not some fabled German toy maker. He was born in 280 A.D. in Patara. This was what we all know as Turkey now.

There are many stories of St. Nicholas. He wasn’t what you would think of when you think of the fat jolly man with the twinkle in his eye. Sure, they both had beards and were nice to children, but not in the same way that you would think. The king of the elves slaved away to give presents to all the children around the world. St. Nicholas was considerably different.

Two of his more popular stories were about the innkeeper and the story of the three daughters. First story goes, Saint Nick found the three kidnapped boys that the horrible shopkeeper murdered. He found the dismembered bodies inside some pickle barrels. What he did was nothing short of a miracle. He put the kid’s parts back together and resurrected them. This led to him becoming the Patron Saint of Children.

The second story is about a poor father with three daughters. Back in those days a father needed what was known as a dowery (the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage) to give. The poor man feared that without one his three young girls would turn to prostitution to get by. As the story goes, good old Saint Nick showed up with three bags of gold from an inheritance that he received for each of the girls and put them inside through an open window to save them from a life of hooking.

It is a true act of kindness and selflessness. The first story is just cool. If you want more details, you can find it.

There are different variations of the stories, but the main point is still the same. It comes down to acts of kindness and morality.

This holiday remember the true idea of Christmas. Understand that it isn’t about how Christmas began or how untrue it is, or how Jesus was actually born in June or not. It is about love and giving. And frankly, the way the last few years and couple presidents have gone we could use a little more love and selflessness, couldn’t we?