A father’s influence in a child’s life is inestimable. I can imagine Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, investing in his son’s self-worth as he recalled the remarkable details of his Bethlehem birth and first two years of life. What Joseph related about angels, shepherds, the magi and living as refugees in Egypt no doubt left a lasting impact on the lad.

Dads contribute to the memories of their kids. When my children were young, I taught them musical jingles to help them learn how to spell our last name and remember our address and phone number. But I didn’t want to just teach them functional facts. In an effort to picture God as their Heavenly Father, I wrote…

“You are God my Father. I am just a child. You know everything I’ll ever need. You watch over me when I cannot see that You’re there for me (always there for me). How I need You, love You, Father.”

Two-hundred-years ago another man of the cloth wrote a poem for his young children that is much more well-known than my little rhyme. In fact, what Clement C. Moore wrote is considered the most celebrated American verse ever written. In 1822, Moore, a Biblical scholar and seminary professor in New York City, penned “A Visit from St. Nicholas” to entertain his family on Christmas Eve.

A family friend in attendance surreptitiously shared what we commonly call “The Night Before Christmas” with a newspaper in Troy, New York. They proceeded to publish the poem anonymously the next December. It would be another fourteen years before Clement Moore would publicly claim ownership of his famous rhyme when he included it in a book of his published work.

Our family has read “The Night Before Christmas” annually since our first daughter was born. Our copy includes handwritten notes to Santa tucked inside the front cover. And my wife grew up having it read to her every Christmas Eve. Recently Wendy was given her family’s copy of the Christmas classic. Though threadbare and stained, this seventy-year-old edition is priceless. Among my extensive collection of Night Before Christmases, my wife’s vintage volume is definitely the family heirloom.

As we approach Christmas, I’ve taken the time to research the life of Clement Moore. If you think the reason for this activity is because my brand-new son-in-law is a Moore, you’d be partly right. What a serendipity it would be to discover that my youngest daughter Is married to a descendant of the poet. But so far, no connection.

However, what I have discovered is noteworthy. Clement was an only child born to an influential pastor who became the Episcopal Bishop of New York and President of Columbia University. Clement’s mother was the heiress of Chelsea, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan. When Clement was only ten years old, his father participated in George Washington’s inauguration. Bishop Moore also offered holy communion to a dying Alexander Hamilton. Clement’s father’s spiritual legacy deeply impacted the younger Moore. Like his dad, he became a student of Scripture and a teacher of the Christian faith.

Clement married Catherine Taylor in 1813. By the time his father died three years later, Clement was himself the father of two little Moores. What he had observed in his father’s life and faith, Professor Moore sought to pass on to those entrusted to him.

When he wrote his classic rhyme in 1822, Clement was father to six children (newborn to 7 years of age). Three more would be born prior to his wife’s untimely death in 1830. If that sorrow wasn’t enough, just eight months after her mother’s death, fourteen-year-old Charity, the Moores’ second oldest, died. Her death came only eleven days before Christmas.

On that cold Christmas Eve of 1830, Professor Moore, grieving for his beloved wife and daughter, gathered his family. As he read to them “The Night Before Christmas,” he couldn’t help eyeing the two empty places at the family dinner table.

Wouldn’t you agree that knowing a little bit more about the man behind “The Night Before” helps us appreciate it all the more? It gives a face to a parent, who in the midst of both joys and heartache, looked for a tangible way to express his love for his family. And this is the time of year when we are given the opportunity to do the same. I’m game. Are you?

Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.