1
It’s this time of year again
When Santa, and his reindeer come
Sleighing through the snow.
Dressed in red and white, jingle bells
Sounding brightly as they go.
As for us in the southern lands,
Where sky and sunshine are so bright
We’re trying hard to image Santa Claus,
Sleighing where there is no snow;
Could this be a northern tradition?
2
Gathering with relatives in their homes
On wintry nights, to share a meal.
Welcome Santa with his sack of gifts,
As they dance around their Christmas tree;
Singing carols and folklore songs.
As for the English there was Old Father
Christmas; an old man at festive parties,
Until New Yorkers merged him with St
Nick and Santa Claus, who makes toys
For children in his North Pole shop.
3
It’s this time of year again
When Christians sing their carols,
And go to midnight mass, on
Christmas Eve to re-count the
Biblical story of Joseph and Mary.
The birth of Jesus born at Bethlehem
Who lowly shepherds came to see,
And Magi, guided by the bright star
Came from lands afar to worship,
Bringing gifts of myrrh and incense.
4
As for us today, Christ-mass is a mixture
Of old and new; fact and myth, blended
Through time into a jolly bearded chap or
Believe Saint Nicholas can be Santa Claus
And Jesus be the Son of God nailed to a
Roman cross or as Peter tells us to a tree^.
Santa Claus a phonetic derivation of “Sinterklass” in Dutch\ ^He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree 1Pet2.24 Notes: By 1038 the Mass of Christ was called Cristes maesse Denisonforum.org\ History of Father Christmas by Tom Moriarty English-heritage.org.uk/
© stephen c douglas 24/12/21