Did you know about what I'm about to tell you? Here is a good story With a Christmas connection that might teach you something you might not know. A long time ago before you were ever born, anytime before You were born is probably a long time to you, in the 4th century, In a place you never heard of called Patara, located somewhere within the Roman Empire, there lived a kindly noble nobleman who lived happily with his wife and three lovely, beautiful, pretty daughters. However the Good Nobleman's wife got ill, and seeing there was not much good medicine in those days his wife passed on into the next world. Not only did he lose his wife, he lost his business. He was an inventor, thus not a very good one, as if losing all his money didn't tell you something.
The Nobleman's family Moved from their middle class dwelling to a low-income dwelling. In spite of utter poverty, his daughters occupied their time with cooking, sewing and cleaning. If things weren't bad enough, the time came when his daughters were of age to marry. In those days money for weddings was needed more so then it is today. No beautiful single girl could marry without dowries, money and property. The Nobleman had none. It was deemed important and necessary for woman of this age to marry. It was important to have money to marry. No Money. No Marriage. Thus a dilemma. There Was not even enough money for food. The only solution that seemed To be possible, in order to get money; was to sale one or all of His daughters into slavery. YIKES! TALK ABOUT GETTING DRASTIC. Well maybe at least one daughter would get enough for some sort of cheap dowry.
One night while the family loomed in doom about the fate that was to befall them, Grace & Mercy stopped by for a visit. The daughters finished their exciting task of washing their cloths. It's good to have fresh cloths when you’re about to be sold as a slave. Daughter # 1 was up to bid. They then hung their stockings over the fireplace to dry. That night while The Nobleman and his daughters slept, a lone figure gleamed through the shadows and up to the roof of the house that the nobleman lived in. Three little bags dropped down the chimney. One into each stocking. The next morning the nobleman ready and unwilling to sell his lovely daughters to some dreadful slave trader; went to take down the dry stockings. Funny. The stockings seemed a little bit heavier that morning. It seemed as if someone's foot was in it still. He looked in. Starred. Wrinkled a face of Puzzlement. Reached in. Felt the little bag. More puzzlement. Looked In. Complete astonishment. ???'s entered his mind. It can’t be real. He tested it. It passed. Then Utter Joy. The Nobleman uttered A loud joy that woke up his daughters. No, money may grow on Trees, but it did fall down the chimney that night and in other Nights to follow. Daughter # 1 was saved. But.WHO? . He went over the list of his friends and business associates. None of them could possibly have given him this.
The Nobleman and his daughters fell to their knees shouting praises to God, who had saved Daughter # 1 from a fate most of us would not want to partake of. He then had enough money for daughter # 1 to get married. There was even enough $ left over afterwards to live on. WOW. The year passed and at the end of it, he was back to being cashless. It was time to sell Daughter # 2 into slavery. But before she could be shipped off into chains of despair, another mysterious bag of gold was thrown through his window while him and his daughters slept. ???? Who??? Who in all the world is throwing away gold , while He slept. Daughter # 2 was saved. Well the wedding was paid for and the rest like the last time lasted a year. Ever since that 2nd night, the Nobleman had been watching his window, waiting and hoping to catch whomever had been throwing Gold through his window. And sure enough a bag was finally thrown through his window. No sooner had the gold came through the window, the Nobleman took off after him. After a tiring trip around the city, the Nobleman caught up with him. It was a young man. A young man who came from a well-known family in the city."Why? Why did you give us the gold?" The Nobleman asked. "Because you needed it," the young man answered."But why didn't you let us know who you were? I mean we, we , words can't describe how grateful we are."The young man responded with. "Because it's good to give and have only God know about it."
You may be wondering what this has to do with Christmas. Well it turned out the motivation for the man's giving was his devotion to the love of God. His soul burned with love of Jesus. He eventually became a bishop of Myra. He lived out Matthew Chapter 25 (a verse you can look up if you are unfamiliar) with Holy Fervor. . He went after the needs of the poor, the elderly and had a fondness for the sailors who lived dangerous lives in the cruel dark sea. More then anyone though he loved Children. He always gave the little ones he met small gifts-- some type of candy or a toy. His giving away freely for the love of Christ became an inspiration to all. His spirit of giving was because of Christ. Lots of people remember his kind giving spirit but forget who he really was. He has inspired one of the most popular modern figures today. He comes at Christmas time from the North Pole flying on a sleigh with a bunch of reindeer. His name comes from the Dutch, Sinter Klass pronounced in English as Santa Clause, often times referred to as St. Nick. Did You know that the Fellow who saved the Nobleman's daughters inspired this modern day figure? Did you know that his name was Nicholas? Did you know he was a man who loved God and wanted to spread the love of Jesus around. Did you know the real Santa Claus, (Saint Nicholas). Well know you do.
"He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant's bands." --St. Cyril of Alexandria
No comments:
Post a Comment