Читать книгу The Journey: How an obscure Byzantine Saint became our Santa Claus - David Price Williams - Страница 83

“Theodorus,” said Eusebius. “This is Nicholas from . . . sorry, which city are you from?”

I told him.

“Nicholas is from Patara on the Lycian coast. He wishes to join our number.”

“God is indeed pleased. Welcome Nicholas!” the old man said. “If you have the time, you should spend a month or two with Eusebius, or more if you can afford to, learning about Jesus and his followers and how we seek the kingdom of heaven here on earth. If Eusebius would be so kind as to do that, we will put your name forward for the sacrament of baptism. We have a service in a couple of weeks.”

So it was arranged that I should receive instruction from Eusebius on the life and teachings of Jesus. Polios was going to be in Alexandria for some days and I was thus able to go each morning from the ship to find my tutor and so came to learn of the love of God for mankind and the story of our Lord’s selfless sacrifice for us, that we may be forgiven our wrongs and cured of the ills of the world. I found it an incredible message, truly the ‘good news’ of my life. It was so very different from the divisive world of the all-pervading gods of Greece and of Rome with which I had been brought up, or new gods like Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun, gods whose mien was only too human. These gods were venal and self-centred, peevish and

DAVID PRICE WILLIAMS