Merry Christmas To All And To All A Good Night

​The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

Did you know in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (Twas the Night Before Christmas), there is no mention of naughty or nice, good or bad, right or wrong. Just a jolly soul spreading laughter and joy - offering winks and twists that reminded those he encountered:

You have nothing to dread.

Over the years the story got hijacked in various forms to include moral judgment. And over the years, those hijackings turned the jolly old elf into an all knowing decider of who is and is not worthy of his jolly.

The original 1823 poem does not center on moral sorting. It does not dwell on behavior charts, judgment, or consequences. There’s no anxiety in the house, no warning issued, no conditional joy.

Instead, the Santa of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" is portrayed as:

Joyful.

Playful.

Quietly generous.

Non-threatening.

Focused on giving, not evaluating.

The “naughty or nice” framework - especially the version that feels big brotherish or transactional - came later, as culture reduced the story into a behavioral shorthand that fit parenting, religion, and eventually commerce.

Honestly, without knowing that 1823 Santa - (I'm old but not THAT old) - I miss him. I miss the man centered on easing dread and not creating it.

As I scroll through my social media feeds this morning and briefly brave the morning news, I wonder - is the main goal of these feeds dread? Does not anyone want to offer a wink or a twist?

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread

I would encourage us all over the next few days to read about that original visit from St. Nicholas. May we all experience visions of sugar plums dancing in our head as we read it. And may we all be the jolly reminder to someone who just may need it - a twist or a wink - that in a world that can feel increasingly dreadful, in showing up for one another - we leave nothing to dread.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight -
“Happy Christmas to ALL, and to ALL a good night!”