Are We Happy Yet?

Did I mention I was having trouble with getting into the Christmas spirit because it's so warm down here in Florida? I'm originally from Michigan and even though the days of ground covering snow for Christmas were mostly over, it was cold, gray and gloomy, all the attributes needed for creating that special Christmas feeling. When I sang "Let it snow, let it snow," I thought there might be possibility however, down here there isn't a chance in hell that we Floridians will have a White Christmas - ever.

However, the other day it occurred to me that a goodly bit of the Christian world is in warmer climates. Check out this map. It’s hard to see, but Christianity is shown as pink/red, the far right column. Islam is green, the African tribal religions are coral, Buddhism yellow, undifferentiated religions are the black and white dots, and Judaism is white with a black star (I hope I've covered everyone, I don't mean to leave anyone out).



I mean, Jesus was born in warm weather, so what is my problem? Why do I need all the trappings of the comerical Christmas in order to be moved by the season? Why do I watch Miracle on 34th Street and it's a Wonderful Life? Can you imagine those movies being filmed in Arizona or Miami? No, because that's not the Christmas package. Christmas comes with red noses, bows, tinsel, snow and Santa Claus, and in one form or another we have all bought it.

Now, as adults, during this time of year, we slip in and out of Christmas reality with a regularity that would make Dr. Kellogg proud. We are caught between living the myth as we know it (and each one of us has our own personalized version) and living the reality. That translates into feeling guilty because we aren't living up to what's in our head, and feeling intense pressure to make everything perfect, or as perfect as our reality allows. Are we happy yet?

For added fuel to my fire, I've taken the liberty to refresh us all on the legend of Santa Clause as a first step in my 12 step Christmas Reality Program.

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and
its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New
York in the 17th century.

As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American
press as "St. A Claus," but it was the popular author Washington Irving who
gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of
Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the
pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint
on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.

This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas more commonly known as The Night Before
Christmas by writer Clement Clarke Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney.
(Moore's phrase "lays his finger aside of his nose" was drawn directly from Irving's 1809 description.)

nast 1881" align="left" height="216" width="146">The American image of Santa Claus was further elaborated by illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a rotund Santa for Christmas issues of Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of the good and bad children of the world. A human-sized version of Santa Claus, rather than the elf of Moore's poem, was depicted in a series of illustrations for Coca-Cola advertisements introduced in 1931. In modern versions of the Santa Claus legend, only his toy-shop workers are elves. Rudolph, the ninth reindeer, with a red and shiny nose, was invented in 1939 by an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward Company.

In looking for the historical roots of Santa Claus, one must go very deep in the past. One discovers that Santa Claus as we know him is a combination of many different legends and mythical creatures.

The basis for the Christian-era Santa Claus is Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna (Izmir), in what is now Turkey. Nicholas lived in the 4th century A.D. He was very rich, generous, and loving toward children. Often he gave joy to poor children by throwing gifts in through their windows.

The Orthodox Church later raised St. Nicholas, miracle worker, to a
position of great esteem. It was in his honor that Russia's oldest
church, for example, was built. For its part, the Roman Catholic Church
honored Nicholas as one who helped children and the poor. St. Nicholas
became the patron saint of children and seafarers. His name day is December 6th.

In the Protestant areas of central and northern Germany, St. Nicholas
later became known as der Weinachtsmann. In England he came to be
called Father Christmas. St. Nicholas made his way to the United States
with Dutch immigrants, and began to be referred to as Santa Claus.