Brown Stockings and Kindness

Not really a St. Nicholas or a Santa Claus!

St. Nicholas, another tradition….or should I say St. Nicholas feast day. A tradition born of a story that cannot be absolutely verified as it whispers to us from the distant past. (And I located it at <whychristmas.com>)  They say that any good story begins with a lie, however I’m not fond of that phrase. Possibly meant ironically, a lie is told with the intent to deceive, and not always kindly. If deception is used to create suspense, ask a question that will be answered later on in the story, that I can accept. 

I like the St. Nicholas story that I read this morning, whether it started with a lie or not. It finally explained to me why it was so important to hang those brown cotton stockings by our chimney each Christmas when I was a kid ~ also in a distant past! Curiously, there had never seemed any spiritual basis or connection in any way with the Sunday school Christmas stories. There were no stockings hung in the manger, were there? But this story does in fact have a basis in a spiritual practice. One that is simple and, unfortunately often, gets lost in our busy day to day lives. Kindness is that spiritual practice. I am fairly certain that some hear the word ‘spiritual’ and recoil from it as though burned so I must be judicious with it’s use. Kindness is a good practice in any human relations. 

This story I read on a website this morning about the tradition of St. Nicholas. I’ve abbreviated much of it, but it offers the nugget of a story about impoverishment and kindness. 

“There once was a man who had three daughters…..One night Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house…..The bag fell into a stocking that had been drying by the fire….”

The tradition of stockings by the fire spread from there. A charitable, kind act for that one impoverished family has endured, albeit with a bit too much glitz and not enough magic, for centuries. Coincidentally, this short essay was already designated before I was aware that December 6 ~ today ~ is St. Nicholas feast day. Nicholas, because of his kindness to children, and oddly to sailors, was sainted as the patron saint of children and sailors. 

“You can always give something, even if it is only kindness.”

~ Anne Frank

This short essay had certain self imposed requirements:

1. Christmas themed

2. First line to start with 'St. Nicholas, another tradition: this line I set for myself regarding the blog post.

3. Another line to be included: 'Every good story starts with a lie...' This line is the group assigned line for this month's writer's group held the first Friday of every month.