The “new monastics” on Old St. Nick

A 17th-c. Saint Nicolas icon, Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland

I could apparently spend my entire day just posting on interesting articles around the web about St. Nicholas, whose feast day is today. But this will be the last one. It’s a brief piece in the Huffington Post by new monastics Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, giving their own particular take on the jolly old guy . . . well, at least on his prototype, St. Nicholas of Myra:

Even though we don’t expect Santa for another few weeks, December 6th is the day when we remember the original “Old St. Nick.” Nicholas was bishop of Myra in fourth-century Turkey. Little is known about his life except that he entrusted himself to Jesus at an early age and, when his parents died, gave all of their possessions to the poor. While serving as bishop, Nicholas learned of three girls who were going to be sold into slavery by their father. Moved to use the church’s wealth to ransom the lives of these little ones, he tossed three bags of gold through the family’s window. We recall this ancient Christmas gift, even as we remember that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year in the global sex trade today.

As we remember, our hearts are broken by the fact that “peace on earth, good will toward men” isn’t a reality for millions of God’s children. But we don’t despair. We are part of a great tradition of ordinary radicals like Nicholas and Francis, Fanie Lou Hamer and Dorothy Day, who have prayed and worked for God’s new creation even as they’ve waited in face of the world’s worst brokenness. . . .

The rest is here.