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Ask me if I believe in unicorns, leprechauns or the Easter Bunny and I will tell you no.  When asked why, my response would simply be, "because I am not a child".  With that said, I must admit that Santa Clause is an altogether different story.  I consider myself a historian; I won't go so far as to label myself a scholar but I read history voraciously and can even add the title of historical author to my resume with the completion of my first novel, The Spear.

I've done my research and the decision to "believe" in Santa is not one based on intellect or even common sense it is one of emotion and a conscious choice to believe in the spirit of hope. It is a declaration of all that is amiable and good in humanity.  Go ahead...ask me if I believe...I dare yah.

Here is the true history of the man we call Santa and the true historical figure he is based upon......St. Nicholas.    In America, the early 1800's where a rough and tumble times and Christmas was nowhere near the celebration we think of today.  In fact, the religious leaders of the day wanted it banned and for several good reasons.  Winter in those days was a time for common folks to blow off steam, the crops had been harvested and sailors were waiting for better weather to disembark, and there is just not a lot to do when it gets dark out so early.  So common folks took to drinking a bit more than they should on December 25th and it was more like college spring break then a religious holiday that celebrated the birth of the Christ child.

Leaders of the day in New York, (mostly wealthy men who had grown tired of having their homes looted by drunken revelers each year on that date), formed The Saint Nicholas Society and forever changed the world with two little poems. Yep POEMS.  Their goal was to make Christmas more family friendly and The Saint Nicholas Society had just the guy for the job in their namesake.

Saint Nicholas was a real man who lived in the first 3 centuries after the death of Jesus.  He was known for his love and protection of children.  Kids had it tough back then and it wasn't much better for children in the early 1800's in America.  St. Nick's feast day, December 6th, (the day he supposedly died) had been celebrated across Europe for centuries, often by giving gifts to children.  So, the goal was to get the drunks off the street but how do you do it.  Good cheer alone was not enough they needed a story...something heartwarming and gentle.   An American author Washington Irving wrote a series of stories telling of St. Nicholas souring high above New York smoking a pipe and delivering presents to well-behaved children.   A full ten years later in 1821 a poem was published by an anonymous author called "The Children's Friend" featured a reindeer guided sleigh flying through the night by a cheerful fellow who rewarded youngsters with gifts presented in stockings hung by the fire.

An Episcopalian scholar named Clement Moore then wrote a poem for his own children dressing the man in red and the poem was entitled, "A visit from Saint Nicholas"...it is better known now as " A Night Before Christmas".

In 1881 political cartoonist Thomas Nast, (who would create the iconic images of the donkey and elephant to represent the two major American political parties), drew a sketch of his image of what the jolly man looked like and it stuck.  The Coca-Cola Company paid for the sketch and at one time "owned" the rights to the vision we now know as Santa Clause.

So, that's how we came to know the white haired man who only commutes to work one night a year.  He has changed somewhat over the decades but so have all of us.  I like the guy.  I will say I have never met the man but I have had several conversations with his helpers dressed like him while sitting on their laps in shopping malls in Indiana while growing up.  I like what he represents.  He makes me smile and for that alone I will give the man the benefit of the doubt.

So many of us complain that Christmas has become a non-secular event, that the spirit of the holiday has been forgotten over the years.   I contend that Christmas is the singular most important holiday of the year for the simple fact that it means so much too so many people.    If you read my earlier blog I mentioned that the actual birth date of Jesus in not known by biblical scholars but yet we celebrate December 25th as a day of remembrance.   That is good.  Equally as good is that humanity comes together, maybe if only for a little while, to treat each other better, feel the emotions of peace and good will, and treat each other with respect and love.  With that said, please don't take that away from me ....I choose  to believe.  I need to believe that all of that is possible.

So, at my home where no child resides other than the little guy who lives within myself, there will be a plate of cookies and a glass of milk sitting on a small table by the fire place on Christmas eve.  I might even take a bite of one of the cookies, as my inner child looks the other way. For when I wake up on Christmas morning, I want the world to be pure, peaceful, and full of joy.  If you are willing to take that away from me with facts and logical thinking than, well, you just don't understand Christmas at all.

Enjoy

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