Excellent, non-qualifying story on Santa

Here is an excellent story of why we have a Santa Claus tradition. “God Talk: History lesson: Saint Nicholas, a servant of Christ,” written by Jay Nelson and published in the Red Bluff Daily News (Tehama County, California), tells the story of how Turkish-born St. Nicholas became Santa Claus.

Nelson writes:

What about Santa Claus? With our young children, it is fun to pretend there is this guy with eight tiny reindeer who lives at the North Pole. He delivers presents to every single household in the world all in one night! Just as other things, this will fade with age.

There is concern that the celebration of Christ's birth during this season will be overshadowed by the anticipation of gifts, and the prominence of a make-believe "gift-bringer." It is imperative that we discuss the historic figure of St. Nicholas with our children. Not so much Clement Moore's depiction of "a right jolly old elf," with rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes, but of the real man who lived a life devoted to God.

Between the blend of fact and legend, one thing is clear. He was a man of action, living out his Christian faith in word and deed. In all accounts, Bishop Nicholas would have readily agreed, the greatest gift ever given to mankind is salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Read more>>

This well written article is very informative and encourages people of Christian faith to believe in the spirit of Santa Claus, even while we are dissappointed at Santa's increasing secularization and materialization.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see where Nelson cited the “holy scriptures,” to which his opinion referred several times. That means the article wouldn’t qualify for the Amy Writing Awards, even though it is one of the better articles I have read this year.

I am going to write Jay and encourage him to include scripture the next time he writes.

Jay, keep up the good work!