Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Santa Bones

 

Earlier this year I anticipated retirement by letting my beard grow...and grow. I've had beards and goatees through most of my adult life but this is different. It's much longer that ever before and quite white as I enter my dotage. I tell people I've got a goal of seasonal work as a mall Santa.

 

Speaking of Santa --Claus that is-- there have been a rash of articles recently about the possible discovery of old Saint Nick. Here is the beginning of the National Geographic article.

 

Where is Santa Claus? Definitely not at the North Pole—but archaeologists still remain divided about the final resting place of St. Nicholas.

A team of Turkish researchers think they have found new insights into the possible grave of the real man who inspired the Christmas icon. Beneath the mosaic-covered floor of a church in Turkey's southern Antalya province, Turkish archaeologists have conducted scans they believe indicate the presence of a previously unknown tomb.

The church is located in the Demre district of Antalya, the same region in which St. Nicholas is believed to have been born and lived during the fourth century. Tradition holds that St Nicholas was famous for giving aid and gifts to the poor. (Over the years, his reputation as a generous saint persisted and he began to be called "Sinterklaas" in the Netherlands. You can thank 19th century author Washington Irving for the modern portrayal of St. Nicholas that persists today.



Who knows whether this is the spot where St. Nicholas was laid to rest, and n the end it really doesn't matter. More important may be conducting the postmortem on the sad transformation of a Christian with a heart for the disadvantaged and vulnerable into the pagan symbol of largesse. While I don't get wound up about "keeping Christ in Christmas" and Nativity scenes in public squares I am saddened by the commercialization of Christ's birth and the powerful symbolism of God's generosity to the planet represented by the baby in a manger.

Don't you wonder if they'll discover the skeleton of St. Nicholas spinning in it's grave?