Dear Friends,

“A Visit from St. Nicholas” is the original title of “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore. Moore’s poem did much to contribute to the development of the figure we now know as Santa Claus. But as our children learned on Sunday December 6th, the tradition of St. Nicholas is much older. A visit to the Godly Play class from this fourth century bishop,  who bore passing resemblance to Steve Spinetto, taught them about a generous and kind Christian who tradition says lived out his faith in a time of struggle and persecution.

As we confront the challenges and struggles of our own day, it is more and more important that we become a community that knows the richness of our past, so that we are formed and shaped by the faithfulness of saints who have gone before us – and by “saints” I mean all believers.

We are also formed by the experiences of each other, living out our faith as the Body of Christ in this time and place. One of you commented the other week about how grateful you are that your children have “grandparents” here in this church. They are no replacement for grandparents living afar, but they offer themselves as guides, as teachers, or as someone in whose lap a child can sit at Coffee Hour and have a story read to her.

On some Sundays, you may not consider it important for you to make the effort to get to church. But have you ever thought that your presence might be essential to someone else who is here that day?

I was grateful to see a saint from the past last Sunday, and I am grateful for the saints I see every Sunday. Our stories merge with the saints before us in common worship and witness to God. Perhaps one of our younger members realized that, when two years ago, she came into church for communion after a visit from St. Nicholas.  As people came to the altar, she noticed Steve Spinetto walking forward, and said excitedly,  “Mom! He looks just like St. Nicholas!”

Faithfully,

Tom