This Day, an Advent Tradition, St. Nicholas, Poverty

Today, the boys and I went to Rancho San Antonio for a walk in the rain. It was realy nice. Usually when we go there it is very crowded with people but the rain kept most people away today. We haven'thad much rain this season so, though it was raining, the stram beds were mostly dry. We walked in them. Basil was head-to-toe covered in mud. At one time the boys took shelter from an especially heavy cludburst in a hollow oak tree. That was neat until Basil decided to taste oak sap. We saw six deer, two flocks of wild turkeys, and a bobcat. The bobcat was a bit worrisome since it wasn't afraid of us at all. In fact, at one point it was not more than 6 meters away from us. That is when Basil said the terryfying words,"My cat. Pick up cat." and tried to break free from my grip. Anselm exhibited much better sense than his little brother. It walked along the with us for about 50 meters before it crossed over a field (stopping briefly to sniff something and marks its territory) and dissapeard into the woods on the far side of the field. Rancho San Antonio is mountain lion area but I have never seen one there. I hope if I do come across a mountain lion it is much more wary of people than was today's bobcat. Anslem collected many tenis ball-sized buckeye seeds. Basil did manage to break free of me and chase a deer. He didn't get closer tan 20 meters before the deer bolted. By the time we finished our walk we were soaked.


One of the things I do with my kids every year is read Advent Story Book by Antonie Schneider aloud each night before bed. The conceit of the book is that Benjamin Bear opens a window on his Advent calendar each night before bed, thus reveling a new picture. And each evening Benjamin Bear's mother incorporates the picture into a long story about a little bear she is telling to Benjamin Bear. Below is the chapter for December 6.

---

On December 6th, Benjamin opened the next door and saw a man dressed in red.

It grew darker, the path to Bethlehem seemed immeasurably long to the little bear. Snowflakes blew in his face. He closed his eyes for a moment. He was so sleepy...
The little bear yawned.Before him sood a man dressed in red, a large sack slung over his back, leading a donkey.
"Hello, there, little bear. My name is Nicholas. What are you doing out n such a cold night?"
"I am following the star to Bethlehem to see the Child that will be born," muttered the bear.
Nicholas smiled. "Then we are going the same way!" he said. Without waiting for a reply, he lifted the little bear onto his donkey. When they reached a village, the little bear sawchildren peering out of brightly lit windows. Waht are they waiting for, he wondered. Then he saw empty plates and shoes in front of the doors.
Nicholas opened his large sack. It was filled with apples, nuts, and gingerbread. "Will you help me, little bear?"
The little bear nodded and cheerfuly passed out all the goodies. "Now the sack is empty!" said the little bear, disappointed. "We've given away everything."
"And because we did, we are nearer to Bethlehem." replied Nicholas....
The little bear rubbed his eyes. It was morning. The sun was shining. Next to him was a small sack with a card that read, FOR THE LITTLE BEAR.

"I'm glad the little bear got some goodies, too," said Benjamin.
"Yes," agreed Mother Bear. "But remember that sharing with others brings us closer to God."

-----

I just wrote a paper for scool on the Orthodox understanding of riches and poverty. Below is an excerpt that seems to me to be appropriate for this day:

In a letter written to some hermits, St. Basil the Great said, “If you are living alone who’s feet are you going to wash?”(Payne, 1980) The hermits had given up everything, but they had not taken upon themselves a work that Orthodox Christians deem very important: Serving other people with one’s own money and one’s own physical labor.

A person described as “a certain ruler” came to Jesus one day and asked what he must do to have eternal life. After a bit of discussion, Jesus said, sell everything you have and give the proceeds to the poor. When he heard Jesus words he went away very sad, because he had much wealth. (Luke 18:18-23) In the case of the hermits to whom Saint Basil wrote, their time and their solitude were possessions they needed to give up.

What can we learn from this? We can learn from this is that wealth, even if that wealth is only measured in minutes of peace and solitude, is very expensive if it costs one eternal life.