St Nicholas, sleighs and presents:
The essence of the day all wrapped up 

It never fails.  Every year around this time, the eve of the feast of St Nicholas, so many of us adults return their earlier, and more fun, childhood state.  Perhaps the toys have something to do with it.  After all, most of us didn't have the genius of Fisher-Price when we were growing up.  No wonder we want first dibs before handing those objects over to children who appear to wonder about us . . . But there is also another reason why we await the coming of the spirit of St Nicholas tonight. 

In my childhood home, my brother invariably complained that this or that toy wasn't what he wanted.  Mother would then explain to us both how poor her family was in Bukovina and how her parents worked hard to be able to buy her a piece of chocolate to place under her pillow from St Nicholas.   

And, she added, there were even years when there was no chocolate and that really upset her.  Suddenly, the toys seemed like real treasures . . . 

This year, St Nicholas brought me a very special gift that I think he would appreciate if I shared it with you.  This gift is so remarkable that it can be yours too! 

My place of employment decided to dedicate itself to some charitable fund-raising for poor children, seniors and the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. 

I was asked to be chairperson for the drive, a position I accepted reluctantly. 

I have no problem donating money and time to charitable causes.  I do have a problem with asking others for money! 

And how was one to go about raising funds?  What events can be held?  Since St Nicholas was the protector of children, especially poor children, this was all going to have be placed under his protective episcopal omophorion!   

And soon afterwards a spirit of excitement, cooperation and joyful giving gripped us all like never before! 

An idea for an auction resulted in dozens of items being contributed with the final tally of funds raised at over $20,000!  And we were just beginning . . . 

It is amazing how many things people can part with.  We all probably have a number of interesting, but no longer useful objects at home.  And one person's junk is another person's treasure, or so I've heard. 

And I won the award for the most interesting item at the auction!  It was a cannibal fork from the Fiji Islands, a souvenir that my brother, "St Nicholas' complainer" as I called him, brought me from there. 

It fetched a great price from a collector of such things.  Wooden with four prongs (for those "hard to get at" places, I suppose), the fork is still a topic of conversation at the water-cooler . . . 

We then started to auction off explanations for little-known things of interest, definitions and even jokes.   

Deputy fund-raisers (we all need help) devised their own ways of twigging people's interest to evoke donations. 

In high school, I had studied some books that discussed palm-reading as a way to discover one's character. 

I then offered to read anyone's palm in exchange for a contribution, at their discretion, to our cause. 

The response was tremendous, my last reading finished an hour ago and what fun!  To one person, I said they would be very good at writing a Hollywood movie.  That person said she was doing just that, a screenplay for a movie.  So instead of thirty dollars, she donated sixty! 

To another person I said they should drink more fluids, especially water.  That person said their doctor and so told them two weeks ago and she was just starting to do that.  Again, the offering was increased. 

I am mesmerized as to why I came up with such accurate descriptions, since I am good, but not that good. 

When it came to palm-reading, so many wanted to "lend a hand" in a good cause! 

Counting money has never been so joyful!  The donations are still coming in, and someone has just walked by to pick up sixty more donation forms for their department. 

What has been truly moving is to see those whom I know cannot really afford to give anything, especially at this time of the year, come forward to make an offering. 

The picture of the victims of September 11^th is a powerful one that tugs at the heart strings, to be sure, and affects all of us. 

The impact can even be measured in terms of what people contribute for the less fortunate in our own community as well. 

Bake sales, more auctions and an embellished ritual for palm-readings that people take so, so seriously (I have clients put their hand on a bust of Alexander the Great for starters) - there are many ways to raise funds for the poor and needy and to have great fun doing it. 

My colleagues and I have never worked so hard in our lives, truth be told.  And we've never had so much fun working. 

It makes all the difference in the world knowing that, in our own little way, we are trying to make a difference! 

And we don't want to stop.  We are going to prolong the life of this fund-raising over the holidays and come up with new and innovative ideas to continue. 

We are also going out to our local community to assess need there as well. 

Life itself has taken on new meaning, it would seem . . . 

Tonight, my meditation will be about St Nicholas and how he came to a house long ago with three bags of money.  These he let down a chimney of a house where three girls slept, three girls whose father had decided to sell into a life of prostitution to raise money for their dowries. 

Also, how he saved three children and raised them up to new life. 

Is there a St Nicholas, people will ask? 

Yes, there is.  He lived as an Archbishop in Myra of Lycia long ago.  His relics still exude a holy oil substance to this day in Bari, Italy. 

And St Nicholas continues his work of visiting children in distress, victims of terrorist attacks and others, quietly, as they sleep, giving them support. 

He does this through us whom he calls to be his assistants.  The time for elves is gone. 

During World War II, a group of American soldiers came across a Church where the hands of the statue of Christ there were blown off. 

In thanksgiving for being preserved alive during the war, the soldiers wanted to have that statue repaired. 

But the Sergeant said, "No." 

"From now on, Christ has our hands." 

May it be so with every one of us!

Happy St Nicholas Day!

Dr. Alexander Roman  alex@unicorne.org