ceo for the kids
Here in Hungary, and I believe in most of europe, Santa Claus has already come!!! December 6th is known here as "Mikulas", or Santa Claus day, and on the 5th of December, all the little boys and girls clean their boots and put them in the window sill. Santa comes during the night and fills them with chocolates and other candies, as well as fruits and nuts sometimes. The "naughty" children receive switches, but most of my students who have received these say they got them only as a joke. On the morning of December 6th, the children are thrilled to find that indeed Santa has come and filled their clean boots with goodies. I believe there are a few things to glean from this tradition.
First, for me it is wonderful that Santa and Jesus come on different days. Here, the baby Jesus delivers the gifts on the evening of December 24th, not Santa. It's refreshing that the focus is on Jesus and NOT on Santa on the 24th, even though most of my students say they are "not religious" and don't celebrated the religious aspect of the holiday.
Second, the cleaning of the boots. If a child has dirty boots, he won't receive the sweets....there is real work involved. However, for me this points directly to the Truth that Jesus has done the "cleaning" in our lives through His death on the cross. We are holy vessels by His grace and mercy, ready to receive all the sweetness that the Lord wants to pour into our hearts. Yet we too have a responsibility to care for this temple which God has given us, and this Christmas, I pray that we all prepare Him room, just as the children here prepare their boots, to receive the wonderful gifts that the Lord wishes to give us from His amazing abundance.
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