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Parents go back and forth on what they should tell their kids about Santa Claus.

But maybe they should try the truth. He really existed. He came from what is now the nation of Turkey and his real life generosity

17 hundred years ago still inspires generosity today. We call Santa, Saint Nick, for a reason.

Nicholas was born around 280 AD in the maritime city of Paterra and spent much of his life in the coastal town in Meera. He was a wealthy man, orphaned

at a young age, who became a religious leader deeply involved in the life of the church.

He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was eventually ordained to Bishop.

As far as Saints go, he's wildly popular.

The St. Nicholas Center lists 390 churches in America alone that are named for

him. And there are churches all around the world

named after St Nick including one where I worshipped in Uganda, the Orthodox Cathedral in Kampala.

Because Nicholas was and is so popular, he's attracted a lot of pious mists over the centuries.

And I'm not just talking about flying reindeer with red noses.

Here comes Santa Claus.

Right down Santa Claus. One story about Nicholas probably does have a grain of historical truth though.

There are many different versions of it, but here's the gist.

An unlucky widower had three daughters. Without money for dowries, he knew no one would marry the girls, which was a big problem in those days.

Options were few.

And I know it sounds crazy now,

but the man decided to sell his youngest daughter

into slavery to pay the dowry for the oldest daughter.

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