When I was a young girl growing up in Houston, I had an Aunt Karen who was from Germany but one of her parents was from Turkey. (This fact will become more important later in the story) At one point, our family and her family, she was married to my mom's brother, lived in the same apartment complex and since she had no daughters (she had five sons) and my mom worked a lot, She and I would sometimes cook together to fill her void for wanting of a daughter. Once we were baking cookies and it was around Christmas time, and I asked her this question, "Karen, why is it you guys don't celebrate Christmas and stuff? Aren't you guys Christians? Don't Christian kids always talk about Santa Claus?" (Back then my parents were supposed to be Nation of Islam)
My Aunt Karen told me that she didn't Celebrate Christmas because she was a Jehovah's Witness but before she was a Witness, she never Celebrated Santa Claus when she was a child because the real story of Santa Claus was not of a Fat man that lives in the North Pole, wears a red suit, and drives a sleigh pulled by 12 reindeer that fly around the world on Christmas Eve delivering presents to the kids on the nice list and a lump of coal to the kids on the naughty list. She also said that it was very offensive to her how the world has corrupted a good man from her Turkish culture and turned him into this fat white man who lives in a region of the earth that is virtually uninhabitable. This is when she told me the real story of Santa Claus. I am going to try and remember the way she told it and so this is how it goes.
Saint Nicklaus was a real person born several Centuries ago, around the third year after the death of Christ, in Turkey. He was not a white man, he was Turkish. He was born to a very wealthy Christian mother and father who died when he was still young. His only connection that he had to his parents when they died were his wealth and the family religion. So he went to go live with his uncle that was a bishop of the church. Through his uncle's teachings, the faith his parents instilled within him and the words of Jesus to " sell what you own and give the money to the poor", he decided to use his wealth to help the poor, the sick and the suffering. Nicklaus would actually give clothes to the needy, a toy to young poor children, paid the way for the sick that could not work for themselves, and he even sometimes paid the dowry for the families of poor women so they would be able to marry. He did these things on the day of Epiphany in honor of the story of the wise men bringing gifts to the Christ child when he was born, not Christmas eve. He went on to study the bible and become a bishop as a young man due to his devotion to the word.
His parents raised him to be a devout christian at a time when Christians were being persecuted heavily by the government of that region at that time and he was once arrested and thrown into prison by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals so the Emperor had to allow some of the Christians to be set free in order to accommodate the real criminals. When he allowed bishop Nicklaus free, he then attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. When he died, he was then voted to be a saint and then over the centuries his memory was corrupted to be what we now know as Santa Claus. While he was alive he preached against gluttony, and selfishness, and preached that you should use your excess wealth to help take care of the needy, the sick and the suffering in the way that Christ taught and if he were alive today, would look down on the practice of celebrating Christmas as it is today.
So in honor of my Aunt Karen who died of breast cancer after she returned to her native Germany several years ago, I thought it would be fitting on this day to tell the story that she told me the best that I could remember as to why she disliked Santa Claus and never, ever taught her children about him but instead told of the real story of Bishop Nicklaus. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, Teach the children about Santa Claus or not, I tagged you in this note because it was time for the real truth of how the memory of a Christian man who's purpose in life was to assist the poor and needy before his own needs was corrupted to promote greed, gluttony, and selfishness, the things he hated the most.
My Aunt Karen told me that she didn't Celebrate Christmas because she was a Jehovah's Witness but before she was a Witness, she never Celebrated Santa Claus when she was a child because the real story of Santa Claus was not of a Fat man that lives in the North Pole, wears a red suit, and drives a sleigh pulled by 12 reindeer that fly around the world on Christmas Eve delivering presents to the kids on the nice list and a lump of coal to the kids on the naughty list. She also said that it was very offensive to her how the world has corrupted a good man from her Turkish culture and turned him into this fat white man who lives in a region of the earth that is virtually uninhabitable. This is when she told me the real story of Santa Claus. I am going to try and remember the way she told it and so this is how it goes.
Saint Nicklaus was a real person born several Centuries ago, around the third year after the death of Christ, in Turkey. He was not a white man, he was Turkish. He was born to a very wealthy Christian mother and father who died when he was still young. His only connection that he had to his parents when they died were his wealth and the family religion. So he went to go live with his uncle that was a bishop of the church. Through his uncle's teachings, the faith his parents instilled within him and the words of Jesus to " sell what you own and give the money to the poor", he decided to use his wealth to help the poor, the sick and the suffering. Nicklaus would actually give clothes to the needy, a toy to young poor children, paid the way for the sick that could not work for themselves, and he even sometimes paid the dowry for the families of poor women so they would be able to marry. He did these things on the day of Epiphany in honor of the story of the wise men bringing gifts to the Christ child when he was born, not Christmas eve. He went on to study the bible and become a bishop as a young man due to his devotion to the word.
His parents raised him to be a devout christian at a time when Christians were being persecuted heavily by the government of that region at that time and he was once arrested and thrown into prison by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals so the Emperor had to allow some of the Christians to be set free in order to accommodate the real criminals. When he allowed bishop Nicklaus free, he then attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. When he died, he was then voted to be a saint and then over the centuries his memory was corrupted to be what we now know as Santa Claus. While he was alive he preached against gluttony, and selfishness, and preached that you should use your excess wealth to help take care of the needy, the sick and the suffering in the way that Christ taught and if he were alive today, would look down on the practice of celebrating Christmas as it is today.
So in honor of my Aunt Karen who died of breast cancer after she returned to her native Germany several years ago, I thought it would be fitting on this day to tell the story that she told me the best that I could remember as to why she disliked Santa Claus and never, ever taught her children about him but instead told of the real story of Bishop Nicklaus. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, Teach the children about Santa Claus or not, I tagged you in this note because it was time for the real truth of how the memory of a Christian man who's purpose in life was to assist the poor and needy before his own needs was corrupted to promote greed, gluttony, and selfishness, the things he hated the most.
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This post first appeared on The Beautiful & Fabulous Mind Of Tasha Lee, please read the originial post: here
