Last Christmas Gig of 2025

Miracle Field of Greater Rochester Christmas party, December 20, 2025.

 

Pax et bonum

Christmas Poem for 2025

Over years many a Nativity scene
has added much not there that holy night.
The cast of those who played a role has been
expanded as faith and fancy deemed right.
That night the star was there to light and guide
in Bethlehem’s sky, as were angel choirs,
with stable, Mary and Joseph inside,
and the shepherds down from their hillside fires.
The Magi and Herod’s bloody soldiers
arrived later. Creative minds supplied
ass, kneeling ox, lambs, Santa, bowing trees,
drummer boy, midwife, and others beside.
Whoever was there, all have cause to sing,
for that day we welcomed our God and King.

Pax et bonum

The Autobiography of Santa Claus

As part of my preparation for Santa season - my first two appearances are this weekend - and for my on Santa book, I decided to read some of my Santa/Christmas related books. The most recent one was The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn. 

I wanted to see how Guinn treated Santa as there are some similarities to what I am writing (currently some 50,000 words in!). His premise was interesting: Santa dictating his autobiography to clear up misinformation.

The book started off well. It dealt with the early history of St. Nicholas, an and some of the myths about him in those days in a reasonable way. 

But then the book started to head off in directions I thought did not ring true. It certainly downplayed the fact that he was a bishop and a saint, downplaying his spiritual side and focusing more on the secular side. I could have lived with that, as this was a book for a secular audience. But then it started getting silly, and not in a good way.

Suddenly Santa began gathering a crew of helpers who shared in his longevity - including Attila the Hun, King Arthur, and Teddy Roosevelt! St. Francis of Assisi also joins the crew, but Guinn mistakenly identifies him as a priest. Plus, Santa began playing a role in a number of historical and literary events, including helping George Washington and Charles Dickens! I was reminded of  Forrest Gump; indeed, this book was published in 1994, the same year the Gump movie came out.  

The second half of he book had less of the charm of the first half. 

My overall assessment is it was okay, but not a book I would enthusiastically endorse. 

Pax et bonum