Kelly Family Games is here to help you Keep the Fun in your Family. Here are some fun ideas for your family, from road-trip activities, to other games that our family has enjoyed. Of course, you can always purchase some of the games we have produced! We can guarantee that they will be fun for your family.
We are nearing the Christmas season, and homes across the world are beginning to decorate with tinsel, trees, holly wreaths and the inevitable picture or statue of Santa Claus. The jolly man in red is a familiar sight, especially here in America, where the traditions of Christmas seem to center more on him than on the Christ child from whom the holiday derives its name.
The concept of Santa Claus can certainly bring a lot of fun to the Christmas season.
As part of our mission to Keep the Fun in Family, we thought we'd bring you a bit of the history surrounding the man, the myth, the legend that is Santa Claus. That way when you watch your favorite Christmas movies in the next few weeks, you can all roll your eyes and exclaim, "This movie is such bunk! That's not how it was!"
The American name Santa Claus stems from the Dutch pronunciation of Sinter Klaas, which itself is a variation of the man's real name: Saint Nicholas. if you slur your words and say it really fast, you can get from Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus. It also helps to tilt your head to one side.
The real history of Nicholas comes to us in a few very old documents. The oldest is called Praxis de Stratelatis which was probably written sometime in the 400's. It tells of how Nicolas, the Bishop of Myra, a city in the modern country of Turkey, rescued three men from being falsly executed. This event was witnessed by three generals, who later were also falsely accused and scheduled to be forcibly expired by the Emperor Constantine. The three men, remembering how Nicholas had saved the other three men, prayed to God that Nicholas could help them. Nicholas then appeared in a dream to the Emperor and told him to release the men or face the consequences.
Perhaps this is the beginning what we tell kids in our songs that He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake!
If you really want to read this ancient document, we've put a copy here. It might be a fun read for you and your family in place of The Night Before Christmas!
While Nicholas may have been instrumental in rescuing these people from injustice, I'm a bit skeptical of the dream thing. But, stranger things have happened!
Another fun read, though it is MUCH longer, is a history of Nicholas' life written in the mid 800's by a fellow with a fun name, Micheal the Archimandrite.
It tells of how Nicholas was raised by devout Christian parents, who taught him to be faithful to God. They died and left him the family fortune, which was quite extensive. Nicholas wanted to use his wealth to serve his Lord Jesus, so he gave much of it away to the poor.
A neighbor to Nicholas was financially ruined through bad decisions. The man had three daughters, but because of their poverty no reputable men were interested in marrying them. Nicholas was moved by their need, and wanted to help. But because he did not want any acclaim for doing so, he sneaked to their house late at night and threw a bag of money through the window, and then sneaked off. When the man of the house awoke in the morning, he found the bag of money and praised God for the provision. He was able to quickly supply his oldest daughter with a dowry so that she could get married. Nicholas did this with each of the three daughters.
On the last daughter, the father, like many modern children who, anxious to get a glimpse of their unseen benefactor, try to stay awake all night, the man caught Nicholas in the benevolent act and thanked him profusely.
Shortly afterward, Nicholas was made the Bishop of the city of Myra, and he seems to have used his position to do much good for the inhabitants. Other stories are told of him securing food for the people during a famine and rescuing more from injustice.
If you are up for a longer read of ancient literature, you can access it here, but just a warning to parents: It notes that the father of the girls Nicholas helps made them to participate in a, shall we say, less than reputable line of work. No details are described, but it might require some explaining, so use your parental discernment.
So, you can see how the traditions of St. Nick dropping gifts through the window to help children led to our current customs of describing a man who delivers presents through our chimneys. And the miracles described of Nicholas in the ancient sources make our current movies of time-suspending travel via flying reindeer seem almost possible. I guess it's not only modern man who entertains himself with fantastical stories!
Nicholas was, at any rate, a man who deeply cared about the poor and downtrodden. The historicity of some accounts may be in question, but the fact that he lived is most likely true. Some accounts by another source named Theodoret say that Nicholas attended the notable church council of Nicea in 325. Nicholas died on December 6th, 343, and his death is remembered in many churches.
But if you want another good read, of much more relaible nature than the previous, check out this which explains in a similar manner to Linus, the famed friend of Charlie Brown, the real meaning of Christmas.
Remember, keep the Fun in your Family Christmas.
