Yes, I Truly Believe in Santa Claus

Santa has always been something I've dismissed, as I suspect you have, as a silly fairy tale. Something prompted me to take a second look, and I was surprised at the result.

If you're interested in a discussion along the normal lines of commercialism v. Christmas cheer, see the debate between adjensen and Hefficide on the topic: "Belief In Santa: Beautiful Custom or Humbug?"
www.abovetopsecret.com...
but I intend to go beyond that.

I must make clear that my belief isn't in the Santa of modern commercialism. That is too recent to bear the hallmarks of real truth. Nor will I insist on chimneys and flying reindeer. Eliminating those does not shake my faith in Santa, however.

What do we know, historically, about Santa?

During the Reformation, Martin Luther replaced the celebration of St. Nicholas with a Christkind 'Christ Child' celebration on Christmas Eve. The Christkind morphed into Kris Kringle, who came to be identified with Santa Claus.

The name Santa Klaus comes from St. Nicholas: The Dutch Sint-Niklaas was shortened to Sinterklaas and Americanized to Santa Claus.

ancienthistory.about.com... Fine, then who was Saint Nicholas? (From the same source)

St. Nicholas Day is December 6. St. Nicholas is a legendary figure connected with Christmas gift-givers like Santa Klaus. He is thought to have lived in the 4th century, and to have been born in Lycia in Asia Minor. He was probably bishop in the Lycian city of Myra at the time of the Emperor Diocletian and may have been present at the Council of Niceas under Constantine, although his name is excluded from lists of attending bishops.

Nicholas is thought to have been wealthy and to have given his gold away to help others. There is a story that he provided bags of gold as dowries for three daughters of a poor man to keep them from having to become prostitutes.

So we see St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) as having been a man of great resources and generosity.

There is a belief in the Catholic Church, and some other religions, in the Communion of Saints. Briefly stated:

The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices. The participants in that solidarity are called saints by reason of their destination and of their partaking of the fruits of the Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:2 — Greek Text). (emphasis added)

Certainly, a supernatural office might include the gift of love and generosity. Therefore, it is not difficult to see how Saint Nicholas might be recreating himself, through love and generosity in the hearts of millions of people around the world.

If I were to wiggle one finger, would not that finger be me? And if I wiggled ten fingers, would they not all be me? Then why can't St. Nicholas "wiggle" millions of "fingers" and they are all still him?

So perhaps, instead of believing in one Santa Claus, I should have said I believe in Santa Claus appearing in millions of "fingers", especially during the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas to you all,
Charles1952

Merry Christmas to you too.....Santa Clause is not a real entity.

Maybe Saint Ncik was a real human being, but he's long dead, and his tradition lives on.
He does not.

The idea of keeping him alive is no different from the idea of keeping Jesus alive, really.
We all pray to Jesus for this & that, like we all ask Santa for things, waste of time.

The Christ consciousness is a great example to emulate, I promote the idea, but to physically hope these people are alive and their magic is real.... kind of a fantasy imagination reality to me.

Merry Christmas to you, and I know I won't get any coal in my stocking, because Obama and his staff have decided coal is too expensive and I have to pay for cleaner & greener energy in my stocking.

reply to post by JibbyJedi

Dear JibbyJedi,

Thanks, nice post. I just can't shake the idea of an afterlife, though. Even the New Agers believe we continue to exist as some kind of force or vibration in the Universe (or Source, or whatever it's called). I guess the afterlife is just something I'm stuck with.

You may very well get a lump of coal. In small amounts it's not terribly expensive. But if you decide to throw it in the fireplace, you will have to file several EPA forms including an Environmental Impact Statement, and comply with all point-source emission standards.

Live long and prosper. I hope your life is filled with love.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952


Your point is clear, but if you wanna go even deeper....check with John Lear....

Santa is real

reply to post by MarioOnTheFly

Dear MarioOnTheFly,

Thanks for a fun link. I'd comment on it, but the T&C frown on discussion of certain substances. Thanks again. Merry Christmas to you and those you love.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952


You know...I've never really red the T&C.

I never do. I always feel as if I know all that stuff already

So what is frowned upon by T&C ? John Lear or Santa ?

reply to post by MarioOnTheFly

Dear MarioOnTheFly,

As hard as it may be to believe, the T&C here are fairly important. You can skip the first dozen or so, but you should check the "behavior" section. Here's the part that may apply here:

16e.) Illicit Activity: Discussion of illicit activities, specifically the use of mind-altering drugs & substances, engaging in computer hacking, promoting criminal hate, discussing sexual relations with minors, and furtherance of financial schemes and scams are strictly forbidden. You will also not link to sites or online content that contains discussion or advocacy of such material. Any Post mentioning or advocating personal use of illicit mind-altering drugs will result in immediate account termination.

i) Narcotics and illicit mind-altering substances: Due to abuse of the subject matter by some (promoting various aspects of personal use, and discussing actual personal use), no new topics on this subject are allowed in any form.

They're pretty serious about this one, best not to fool with it.

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by MarioOnTheFly

 

Dear MarioOnTheFly,

As hard as it may be to believe, the T&C here are fairly important. You can skip the first dozen or so, but you should check the "behavior" section. Here's the part that may apply here:

16e.) Illicit Activity: Discussion of illicit activities, specifically the use of mind-altering drugs & substances, engaging in computer hacking, promoting criminal hate, discussing sexual relations with minors, and furtherance of financial schemes and scams are strictly forbidden. You will also not link to sites or online content that contains discussion or advocacy of such material. Any Post mentioning or advocating personal use of illicit mind-altering drugs will result in immediate account termination.

i) Narcotics and illicit mind-altering substances: Due to abuse of the subject matter by some (promoting various aspects of personal use, and discussing actual personal use), no new topics on this subject are allowed in any form.

They're pretty serious about this one, best not to fool with it.

With respect,
Charles1952

Hm...you got me scratching my head.

Is it the word "scam" or "illicit drug use" from T&C hat you wanna attach to the link I posted


Anyway...since we are half joking...I think T&C should go easy on me.

reply to post by charles1952


Hello! Hope you are well and a merry Christmas to you!

I recently looked up who saint nicholas was just so I could tell my son about the real Santa.

He was a selfless man and I wanted my son to know that gifts are given for fun and out of the goodness of our hearts to make someone else happy with something they want or need. We also celebrate Jesus.

Anyways. When I told my son that Santa was really pretend. Well that didn't go over very well. He didn't believe me and said Santa was real.

So now I just play along. He knows I don't believe in a magical Santa but if he wants to, that's fine. I loved pretending santa was real as kid. It did make Christmas a little more fun thinking that presents appeared under your tree magically.
Increase the peace-nat

Santa is a mushroom shaman:

www.cannabisculture.com...

You might also enjoy the movie Rare Exports, which presents us with the evil, primeval, child-eating Santa of old myth and legend.

Santa -> Satna -> Satan ???

Santa Claus.. Sint Niklaas? and this is getting better?