Last night we had a gathering at the Church - dinner and the St. Nicholas story. It was my bright idea, so it was up to me to tell the story.
I have a complicated relationship with Santa Claus. I think kids get too focused on Santa and Jesus goes out the window. Plus, there's so much about Santa that seems like really terrible God theology. (Like, he's always watching from afar and sees what you're doing wrong or right and deciding how to reward you based on that. But he's not someone you're actually in relationship with. Ugh.) In my house, I talk about Jesus and murmur vaguely if asked about Santa. Last week, my 4 year old asked, "So is Santa real and the Grinch pretend?" Me: "Uh, I wonder... what do you think?" (Thank you, Godly Play, for the wonderful resource of "wondering questions" as a valid way to deal with difficult questions from children!)
Anyway, I intended to use the Godly Play story of St. Nicholas, because it is generally a great resource for ways to tell faith stories to children. But I wasn't so sure about some of the details. First of all, it talks about Nicholas dying. Which of course is true and necessary, but I had a feeling the parents might have my head if I told their little darlings that St. Nick died, oh, 1600 years ago. But I also found some of the story disturbing. It talks about how even after St. Nick died, the presents kept coming - I guess leaving open the possibility that either the presents still magically came from St. Nick (now living at the North Pole) or that they came from other people who caught on to what he was up to. I ended up cutting out that part.
But I ended up combining Godly Play with my own story-telling to walk (hopefully) that fine line between reaffirming the true meaning of Christmas by remembering St. Nicholas and dashing childhood hopes and dreams:
(Materials, a la Godly Play: construction paper Bishop's hat, wrapped present, Christ child, purple fabric for nderlay)
On Sunday, we started the season of the church year called Advent. What do you see in the Church that lets you know it's Advent? (Purple - the color of kings, but Jesus was a different kind of King; Wreath - with the light slowly growing as we approach Christmas because Jesus, the light of the world, is coming)
Advent is the time when we get ready to come close to the mystery of Christmas. And so tonight, I’m sharing with you the church’s story of St. Nicholas.
There once was a little boy who loved Jesus and wanted to be as much like Jesus as he could. Every Christmas he loved hearing the story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, and of Jesus being born in the manger. He loved hearing about the angels appearing to the shepherds and the wise magi following the star to bring presents to the baby Jesus. And every Christmas, he wished that he could give the Christ Child a gift too. But of course Jesus had lived long before Nicholas was born so he couldn’t really do that.
Nicholas’ family had a lot of money, so he had all the clothes to wear that he needed. He had all the food to eat that he could want. And he had so many toys to play with. He began to look around him and see that a lot of kids didn’t have much money at all. Some of them didn't have enough clothes to wear or food to eat. Some of them didn't have any toys at all. Nicholas began to wonder if maybe the Christ Child was living in every child.
Well, Nicholas grew up and became a priest. And people knew he was a holy person and they made him their Bishop. The place where he was a Bishop was in Myra, a city in the south of a country we now call Turkey.
Because Nicholas was the priest, and then the Bishop, of Myra, he knew the people and knew what they needed. He knew that some of the people were too poor to be able to buy food or toys for their children. And then he had an idea. He would give gifts to them.
But Nicholas was shy. So when he began to give gifts to children on Christmas Eve he did it in secret so that no one would know. Sometimes the gifts came down the chimney. Sometimes they were left by the door. Sometimes they were dropped through an open window. Nicholas would tiptoe away in the night, leaving the gifts to be enjoyed in the morning.
And so the Church remembers Nicholas during Advent because of these wonderful gifts that he gave for God. And because he saw the Christ Child in every child.
I wonder what part of the Nicholas story you like best?
I wonder which part of the story you think is the most important?
I wonder what part is about you, or where you might be in the story?
I wonder if we could leave any part out and still have all the story we need?
I have a complicated relationship with Santa Claus. I think kids get too focused on Santa and Jesus goes out the window. Plus, there's so much about Santa that seems like really terrible God theology. (Like, he's always watching from afar and sees what you're doing wrong or right and deciding how to reward you based on that. But he's not someone you're actually in relationship with. Ugh.) In my house, I talk about Jesus and murmur vaguely if asked about Santa. Last week, my 4 year old asked, "So is Santa real and the Grinch pretend?" Me: "Uh, I wonder... what do you think?" (Thank you, Godly Play, for the wonderful resource of "wondering questions" as a valid way to deal with difficult questions from children!)
Anyway, I intended to use the Godly Play story of St. Nicholas, because it is generally a great resource for ways to tell faith stories to children. But I wasn't so sure about some of the details. First of all, it talks about Nicholas dying. Which of course is true and necessary, but I had a feeling the parents might have my head if I told their little darlings that St. Nick died, oh, 1600 years ago. But I also found some of the story disturbing. It talks about how even after St. Nick died, the presents kept coming - I guess leaving open the possibility that either the presents still magically came from St. Nick (now living at the North Pole) or that they came from other people who caught on to what he was up to. I ended up cutting out that part.
But I ended up combining Godly Play with my own story-telling to walk (hopefully) that fine line between reaffirming the true meaning of Christmas by remembering St. Nicholas and dashing childhood hopes and dreams:
(Materials, a la Godly Play: construction paper Bishop's hat, wrapped present, Christ child, purple fabric for nderlay)
On Sunday, we started the season of the church year called Advent. What do you see in the Church that lets you know it's Advent? (Purple - the color of kings, but Jesus was a different kind of King; Wreath - with the light slowly growing as we approach Christmas because Jesus, the light of the world, is coming)
Advent is the time when we get ready to come close to the mystery of Christmas. And so tonight, I’m sharing with you the church’s story of St. Nicholas.
There once was a little boy who loved Jesus and wanted to be as much like Jesus as he could. Every Christmas he loved hearing the story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, and of Jesus being born in the manger. He loved hearing about the angels appearing to the shepherds and the wise magi following the star to bring presents to the baby Jesus. And every Christmas, he wished that he could give the Christ Child a gift too. But of course Jesus had lived long before Nicholas was born so he couldn’t really do that.
Nicholas’ family had a lot of money, so he had all the clothes to wear that he needed. He had all the food to eat that he could want. And he had so many toys to play with. He began to look around him and see that a lot of kids didn’t have much money at all. Some of them didn't have enough clothes to wear or food to eat. Some of them didn't have any toys at all. Nicholas began to wonder if maybe the Christ Child was living in every child.
Well, Nicholas grew up and became a priest. And people knew he was a holy person and they made him their Bishop. The place where he was a Bishop was in Myra, a city in the south of a country we now call Turkey.
Because Nicholas was the priest, and then the Bishop, of Myra, he knew the people and knew what they needed. He knew that some of the people were too poor to be able to buy food or toys for their children. And then he had an idea. He would give gifts to them.
But Nicholas was shy. So when he began to give gifts to children on Christmas Eve he did it in secret so that no one would know. Sometimes the gifts came down the chimney. Sometimes they were left by the door. Sometimes they were dropped through an open window. Nicholas would tiptoe away in the night, leaving the gifts to be enjoyed in the morning.
And so the Church remembers Nicholas during Advent because of these wonderful gifts that he gave for God. And because he saw the Christ Child in every child.
I wonder what part of the Nicholas story you like best?
I wonder which part of the story you think is the most important?
I wonder what part is about you, or where you might be in the story?
I wonder if we could leave any part out and still have all the story we need?
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