Maximum Joy : A Novel

Nick Perugino always believed he was destined to become a real-life Santa Claus. Even as a small boy he had dreamt of becoming a modern-day Santa who delivers food and medicine to the world''s poorest children while, also, promoting social sustainability practices around the world. God richly responds to Nick''s aspiration to save those who are the world''s most vulnerable. As a youth, he is visited by celestial beings, including the ascended soul of Saint Nicholas (the original Santa Claus). This special corps of angels returns throughout Nick''s life to help him grasp the realities of inequality and poverty in the Third World and even in America and to understand the true meaning of sharing.As a result, Nick is led as an adult to kindle the spirit of sharing on a grand scale, spreading good cheer everywhere he goes, sometimes while wearing a Santa Claus suit. Nick travels the world, ministering to leper children in India, working with Mother Teresa to comfort the sick and dying and delivering life-saving supplies to remote parts of Africa. He eventually attracts and marries Sara, the love of his life, who shares his values and whose skills complement his. Together the couple pursues Nick''s ultimate goal of leading people everywhere to realise that there is a way to upgrade the human condition through deeper awareness of our Creator''s love for us and by sharing our resources generously and wisely to create social sustainability. Nick and Sara create a successful global child relief agency and all goes well until Nick hits a wall, doubts his ambition to become a genuine Santa Claus and seems to falter in the mission. Then an unexpected gift turns it all around in a culmination that will thrill and inspire