DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
Turkeys Yield to Santa
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Santa crosses palm trees in the Hills, © source

Turkeys yield to Santa in the Hills!

Pilgrims give way to palm tree-passing reindeer.
Pumpkins are replaced by icicles & bells.
Poems are now jollies and jingles spilling from boutiques and cafes.

Christmas is upon us.

As I walked to the post office, I almost tripped over strings of lights spilling from the salon next door. I had a moment of glee: “It’s Christmas!”

I’ve always loved this time of year: music, family, food, and the celebration of our faith.

Thanksgiving kicks us off. Then, we look up and see the famous Saint Nicholas aka Nikolaos the Wonderworker aka Santa Claus flying cross the intersection of Wilshire and Beverly Drive.

Christmas in LaLa Land is a little different.

First, it’s not that cold. (Praise the Lord!, says this Georgia Peach) There’s no snow or ice. Fashionistas wear boots and furs for no other reason except to look cute.

Second, there’s always drama!
Hollywood’s still all aflutter with news of the holiday brawl at Halle’s home in the hills between her ex and fiance. All I can offer is the following advice: Violence is not the answer. But if you unwisely decide to start a fight and take a swing at another dude, you may want to be sure that you can actually hold your own… or else you might end up with a broken rib, black eye, arrest for battery, restraining order and court date for December 13th. Just saying.

And third, movies, movies, movies!
Oscar season picks up and we get to see lots of free screenings of all the contenders. It’s not unusual to screen 3-5 films per week. And they’re usually the best films of the year because the studios save their best for last. What a treat!

But, Christmas is also the same.

Even with its differences, Christmas also stays the same all over the world. It’s the time of year that we as a family of faith model the life of the real 4th century Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (Turkey) who was known for secretly giving gifts to those in need.

We celebrate Jesus the Christ’s advent into the earth and model His humility by caring for the needs of others.

Yesterday, I preached on Philippians 2:3-11, which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Christmas is the perfect time to model Christ’s humility and value others above ourselves.

Turkeys Yield to Santa

I know some Christians who really don’t like it when the turkeys yield to Santa. They see it as a holy day of Thanksgiving being trampled over by the secularization of Christmas. But in all honesty, history reveals that Christians took over a secular winter solstice holiday when Pope Julius I chose to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, around 350 AD, and adopted and absorbed a popular pagan festival. Nobody knows the actual date that Jesus was born, but we celebrate it none-the-less. Doesn’t bother me.. Does it bother you?

Santa doesn’t bother me either. He’s everywhere. Macy’s. Lexus. Salvation Army. I’m sure there’s a Santa right now taking pictures with tourists for tips on Sunset Boulevard. Why not use the infiltration of Santa to talk about the real Saint Nic and the real spirit of giving that Christmas is based on? Why not ask folks if they know who Santa is based on and tell them the story? Do you know it? If not, look it up.

I waste no opportunity to reveal truth to folks.
I encourage you to do the same.
And we can use every reference, secular and sacred, that we have!
And have fun doing it!

Move over turkey. There’s a saint and a savior we need to tell folks about!
Naima

Have you heard Saint Nic’s story?
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