It's Santa's Day!

Today we remember Santa, the man himself and in doing so we can celebrate the man for whom the season of Christmas is all about - Jesus - on Christmas day without feeling we've done the Coca Cola clad geezer with the red beard any injustice at all.

Watching the Christmas films where Santa being locked up, threatened with a mental hospital and rendered, sans sled and reindeer brings us to a projected reality where we learn, "Christmas just can't happen without Santa!"

Actually, we celebrate a few feasts at this time of the year:

For the Jewish among us it's Hanukkah,

For the Pagans there's Saturnalia,

The Christians all celebrate Christmas,

And EVERYONE (or so it seems) celebrates Argostide.

Now the Jewish feast is the festival of lights - an story of the dedication of the (second) Jerusalem Temple and the miraculous continuation of light when the oil should have run out. Saturnalia was a Roman festival (even though my pagan mates tell me it was running long before people were writing stuff  - but I don't know where they read that!) and it was about agriculture and giving of gifts and the like. It sort of made sense for the Christians to latch onto it to celebrate the birth of Jesus because the actual date wasn't known so whatever date they chose would have been an arbitrary one - so it's December 25th what gets the prize.

The Saturnalia bit is all too often bills as a feast that pagan romans chose but the more I have read into this the more it turns out that it has the fingerprints of people what are the result of a collision between pantheistist and polytheistic types and their God Saturn (Gk Cronus) the bloke what had the seasons and Agriculture especially in his hands.

So there we are - the Christians didn't actually hijack Saturnalia, they merely decided to celebrate one of their 'special days' on a day when it made sense - after all the public transport stopped, it was about times and seasons, the giving of gifts and that sort of thing - a ready made holiday time waiting to be used.

Now Nick was a bishop and the legend, as I understand it, is that there was a man with three daughters. He was so poor that he could not afford to provided a dowry for his girls and without the money  they would remain unmarried and therefore destitute when he died: This meant they would either become slaves, prostitutes or die from starvation. The story continues that Nicholas, hearing of their plight tossed a bag of gold through the window where the girl were sleeping and this fell into, or onto, the shoes or stockings which were drying before the fire. Now some say once, some say three times, this happened - but the idea of a gift and fireplaces and stockings was set and that's what we have today. Some say the gold was in the shape of three golden globes and that's where Oranges come in as a Christmas stocking filler.

Aside for that Bishop Nicholas was a great leader, a wise bishop and an amazing example to all of us - take some time to look him up, you won't be disappointed!

BUT

Father Christmas - the modern St Nick is never going to be the reason for the season - Christmas, is for Nick what Saturnalia is for Christians - merely a convenient vehicle for the remembrance - and we need to remember who and what Christmas is all about, after all:

Santa never died for you - did he?

So let's let St Nicholas have his day today and then let us progress through Advent towards Christmas and the celebration of Jesus, the Christ, and the greatest gift the world has ever seen (no batteries required).

Walking a fine line (2) - What's it got to do with you?

So there you are, you've decided to try and dialogue with the person what's got (you fear) a  'bit of a problem'. The first response that comes back at you is more often than not:

'What's it got to do with you?' When you get it, how will you handle it? Here's a few suggestions:

Returning to part of the 2 Timothy 4.2  passage we are told that we should:

'Tell people what they need to do, tell them when they are doing wrong, and encourage them.' 

You can't get clearer than that now can you? Of course, as ever, 'it ain't what we do but the way that we do it - that's what gets results'  and Paul is clear on the way that we do it: 'With great patience and careful teaching.'

Combine this with a bit more Paul (and since Paul is so loved, who can deny that this is right) and toss in Galatians 6 (yes I know I love this passage):

'People. If anyone is doing wrong (sinful) stuff then you who are spiritual should restore them gently and lovingly. Be careful that you don't cross the line and sin in the way that you do it because it's easy to do it the wrong way.
Regardless - watch out for each other because that's what Jesus, the Christ, really wants so none fall or get lost.' (RVV))

Let me hear a 'Simples' from the crowd! The 'What's it got to do with you?' has an answer ladies and gentlemen.

Of course, if one wanted to be pedantic (and apparently I often do) then we might also turn to a bit of blood, fire and the promise of destruction (Yes indeed, time for a bit of Ezekiel - you can see why some of the modern errors out there eschew this stuff can't you?) - and I'm thinking of Ezekiel 3 in particular (again RVV):

'You are a sentry for the people of God. If the alarm needs to be raised and you don't do it and people end up dead then you're responsible. BUT, if you shout and bang your mess tin and the people, even though they hear you, continue as if nothing is wrong, then you've done what you should have done and even if their live is forfeited, that's because they were just plain stupid!'

The world is filled with a great many 'really stupid people' (RSP) and one of the hallmarks of them (theist and non-theist) is that, upon hearing what you have to say, they raise two fingers (real or implied) and continue unabated.

I've sounded the alarm and done my bit - the rest is up to you. The key to this Christian business though is keeping an eye open for the other person (and trusting that they will do the same for you).

I'll leave this here (five minute rule) with another Pauline command (Romans 16.17-18) as a final thought:

'Guys, I beg you to be on the lookout for those who cause divisions and, corrupting the word of God I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and trip believers up through their dodgy doctrine and avoid them because despite their TV programmes, their CDs, DVDs and merchandising, they do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery deceive, and corrupt, the hearts of the naive.'

Hope this helps some of us develop the courage to dialogue, understand the issues, study and restore the weaker people among us.


  RVV = Revised Vic Version