Now arriving in Turkey!
Yesterday we were in Austria, celebrating greats such as Freud, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, Adler, the von Trapp family, and yes... musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Only today's featured country can top Austria's list of people whose enduring works have indisputably influenced the world. And, Turkey's list - just as impressive and certainly as enduring - is only one person long!
St. Nicholas. Yes, Santa Claus was born in Demre - Turkey's Mediterranean Coast. Look...
As noted in Wikipedia, "because of the many miracles attributed to his intercessions, he is also known as Saint Nicholas The Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift giving such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and is now commonly identified with Santa Claus.
Does anyone else think it's a coincidence that we just-so-happened to randomly select Turkey - home of St. Nicholas - during World Kindness Week? AND, that St. Nicholas had a thing for doing Random Acts of Kindness - just like we do? I love it when the planets align!
As it happens, we are just weeks away from St. Nicholas Day (December 6). This occasion is a meaningful and fun way for you, your friends, and your family to kick off the holiday season. Bellarmine University, under direction of their first-rate Campus Minister, always did a nice job of creating celebration around St. Nicholas Day and the events served as a wonderful way to spread the spirit of Christmas. How about you? Do you and your family and friends celebrate St. Nicholas Day?
If not, consider doing something this year. Below are two interesting sites I ran across while preparing for this morning's post. The first is a story and the second are some ideas you might use when celebrating with your loved ones.
One more coincidence!
Today is the day, under instruction from the Helping Hand Committee, that I was to make a reminder about the family our blog community adopted for the holidays! I could not have done any better if I stayed up all night searching high and low for the perfect context in which to talk about helping our holiday family! One more sign, that we (this blog, this day, this service project) are meant to be!!!
This small, but committed blog community has done yeomen work raising upwards of $500.00 for our Helping Hand Family. By any measure, the money raised is a thoughtful and generous act. One that is in perfect keeping with St. Nicholas himself.
As you move forward in the holiday season, if you are able and willing, there are items we would still like to purchase for the family. Please visit the Helping Hand link, in the top right hand corner of my blog, to see a list of the items. So important is this to me, that I will make you a deal. For every person who checks out the Helping Hand site today (and leaves a comment), I will donate an additional $1.00 to Helping Hand Family Fund.
What a perfect way to close out this work week.
Isaret uzakta-e kadar yarin...
No comments:
Post a Comment