November 26
What I am thankful to God for: I'm thankful that I'm not rotting away in a Kyrgyz prison.
That's sort of a running joke for Thanksgiving ever since I returned home from Kyrgyzstan.
For
those of you who haven't heard the story, I was arrested for illegal
drug trafficking in Bishkek at the end of my summer in Kyrgyzstan. I
had no illegal drug, of course, much less was I trafficking anything.
Basically, this crooked cop was trying to shake me down for money. Evidently, Americans are easy mark for this sort of scam.
Between
each question concerning drugs, like "Where are you hiding the drug?",
he would ask, "How much money do you have?" He was doing this while we
were encircled by half a dozen other cops.
At one point, I decided to push pass the smallest guys and walk away. Amazingly, none of them tried to stop me.
But
when I got to the curve where all the taxis were lined up, none of the
drivers, with the exception of one, were willing to open their cab
door. They had been watching the whole episode transpire and, with the
exception of that one driver, nobody wanted to be involved.
When we were driving off, I asked the driver why he was willing to pick me up.
He said, "I saw what happened. God is with you."
I
was thinking the same but I was doubtful that anyone would have
recognized it as such much less an Uzbek Muslim man. (Later on in our
conversation, I found out that he's Uzbek.)
November 23
After posting my blog entry entitled "Who is the Historical Santa Claus", I've received the following response:
Nice summary--just a few additions--
Nicholas was born in Patara, a town not far to the west of Myra in Lycia, Asia Minor, now Turkey. Not in Italy.
A
technical matter--houses in that time did not have chimneys (a common
misunderstanding)--there would have been an opening in the roof for the
fire.
Nicholas'
remains were taken to Bari, Italy, in 1087, where a basilica was built
over his crypt. There are many, many towns named for St. Nicholas --
often ports along coasts and rivers as sailors carried stories of him
wherever they went. Chapels and churches were named for him, often in
ports as Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors and seamen, as well as
children, maidens, the falsely accused and many others.
For more, see www.stnicholascenter.org
Here's my reply:
Thank you for the information.
The reference that I used is incorrect about St. Nicholas' birth place. I should have check other references.
As
for Nicholas' resting place, I dug a little deeper and found that it's
a bit more complicated than simply one resting place for St. Nicholas.
Everyone agrees that sailors originally stole St. Nicholas' remains
from Myra and took them to Bari. However, there was, evidently, a lot
of contention for his remains. It seems that people were literally
stealing his remains and moving them to their city.
For instance, Venice claims to have most of Nicholas' remains and that Myra only has one of his arm.
The
most bizarre claim is that Nicholas II, the Czar of Russia, donated the
remains of St. Nicholas to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New
York. And after the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001,
the church building was destroyed and the remains of the saints kept
there were lost.
The
bottom line is that I can neither confirm nor deny any claim of St.
Nicholas' final resting place. It's all pretty bizarre to me that
someone would actually rob a crypt of its dead remains.
The
people who claim to have St. Nicholas' remain should open up their
crypt and let forensic researchers figure out from DNA and whatever
other tests to see who have a piece of St. Nicholas.
November 19
What of me do they desire
That Heaven and hell should conspire
To allow the evil one
To feed me a daily dose
Of hell's eternal fire.
Is it not enough that I gave Him my heart?
Must He give it to the evil one to tear apart?
Like some twisted autopsy
Performed, while I still am alive,
By some deranged René Descartes?
I beg for assurance that my faith is not in vain.
A word from heaven would be enough to sustain
What little hope that I have left
To ride out this torturous night
And see Heaven smiling once again.
I cling to the horizon waiting for the sun
For the hour when His will for me would be done
And He would be pleased that I endured.
November 12
My
post concerning Halloween led to a discussion on Christmas and Saint
Nicholas. I was quite surprised to find out that many of my friends do
not know who Saint Nicholas was. Oh sure, they recognized him as the
guy who secretly gave gifts during Christmas but all the other details
were completely off their mark. For instance, many thought that he was
German.
Since
my friends, who are usually knowledgeable of Christian issues, do not
know who Saint Nicholas was, I am suspecting that it's probably true of
the general public. So, I decided to post what I know (and double
checked with reference literature).
The
historical Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra (in modern day Turkey
but at the time was a Greek city; the city was mentioned in Acts 27).
He lived during the 4th century. Although he was the Bishop of Myra,
he was born in Italy.
His parents were wealthy. When his parents died and Nicholas received his inheritance, he gave it away to the poor.
During his lifetime, he was renowned for:
1)
Defending the Christian faith; most particularly the intolerance of
Arianism, a warped form Christian theology at the First Council of
Nicaea
2)
Intolerance of pagan religions and pagan artifacts; responsible for the
destruction of several pagan temples including the Temple of Artemis.
3) Taking care of the poor
4) Defending the falsely accused
Many amazing deeds were attributed to him including rescuing sailors.
The
most enduring is, of course, the secret giving of gifts. Evidently,
there was a poor man who had three daughters but was unable to afford a
proper dowry for them. In those days, it would have doomed them to not
only remaining unmarried but would have to become prostitutes to
support themselves. So Nicholas, on the nights before each daughter
came "of age", would anonomously throw a purse of gold coins into their
house. The first two times, he threw the purse through the window.
The third time, the father decided to lie in wait to discover their
benefactor. When Nicholas caught wind of the father's plan, he tossed
the purse down the chimney, instead.
When
the Asia Minor was invaded by Turks, at the beginning of the second
millennium (long after Nicholas' death), Nicholas' remains were taken
to a church in Germany. The town was renamed Nikolausberg.
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