The gift that isn't signed
Saint Nicholas left the money through the window, at night, so nobody would know who was helping.
Nicholas, who later became bishop of Myra, learned that a ruined neighbor was ready to push his three daughters into earning, in an undignified way, the money they needed to marry. One night he put the necessary money in a bag and threw it through a window of the house. He did it again for the second daughter and for the third. The third time, the neighbor caught him.
From that story comes the custom of gifts that appear in shoes or stockings, and the figure we now call Santa Claus or Father Christmas.
The loveliest part of the origin is what usually gets forgotten: Nicholas helped without signing his name. He wasn't looking for thanks or fame; only for those girls to be all right. At a time of year full of presents, that style can be recovered: giving something without anyone knowing who gave it.
Key idea
The best gift is sometimes the one nobody knows the giver of.
Your challenge for this idea
Today, give an anonymous gift or do an anonymous favor for someone who needs it.
BASED ON
Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus →