The Real St. Nick

            Children all over the world look forward to Christmas and a visit from a well-beloved man. Some know him as Santa Claus, while others know him as Saint Nicholas, St. Nick or Kris Kringle. http://www.ldsliving.com/The-Surprising-Christian-Origins-of-Santa-Claus/s/87298 Most people know that he lives in the North Pole, but he was born in 270 A.D. in a town called Patara that was located on the Mediterranean coast of southwest Turkey. His wealthy parents named him Nikolas.

            Nikolas’s parents died when he was quite young, but they left him a large fortune. He used his wealth to go about doing good deeds. One story of his kindly acts suggests that he threw a bag of gold into the house where a poor family lived. There were three daughters in the family who needed the money for wedding dowries. One version of this story says that the gold fell into a stocking that was hung to dry in front of the fireplace.

            Some years after Nikolas began sharing his wealth, he was consecrated as the bishop of Myra sometime about 311 AD. He attended a council of Christians called by Constantine and signed the Nicene Creed. He died in 343 AD, but the stories about him continued to grow and spread. He was credited with many miracles. He was later canonized by the Catholic Church and became Saint Nikolas.

            Saint Nikolas was a follower of Jesus Christ, and he spent his life performing wonderful acts of kindness and love. He followed the Spirit of Christ when he went about sharing his wealth and teaching about the Savior. The Christmas Spirit is that same spirit, which is the love of Heavenly Father for His children. I am a true believer of this Christmas Spirit.

            An expanded version of this story can be found in The Immortal Nicholas, https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Immortal+Nicholas a novel written by Glenn Beck for his children. He wrote it in order to teach his children that the true meaning of Christmas was more than a visit from Santa Claus. I own a copy of this book and highly recommend it to my readers.