It is that time of year that a question presented to an editor, and his response, again are published in articles, books, magazines, newspapers and yes blog posts. Mine will be no different. To follow you will see both the letter to the editor, and the editor’s response. I wanted to share them, to remind all of us, that there is more to life than what can be seen. It seems this editorial is more fitting in my life today than ever before. That is because, if there is one thing this journey has taught me or continues to teach me, it is to recognize divine right timing and synchronicity or serendipity if you will. Like, putting me in a place to be able to interpret, as broken as it may be, for someone who does not speak the language presented to him, but needs critical information, or like me receiving a text checking up on me, on a day I felt so unloved and so not supported. I always say we never know how a minute can change a life. I hope you begin to recognize your minutes. I hope you will also enjoy reading these as much as I. And I further hope you will take the time to really think about the message. Here goes:
"YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS"
Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in THE SUN it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? ~ Virginia O'Hanlon - 115 West Ninety-Fifth St. New York, NY - September 21, 1897
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no chiildlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. ~ Francis Pharcellus Church - The Sun - Nassau & Frankfort Sts. New York, NY
Like Virginia, I used to find it easy to be skeptical about things in this life. I have found and am finding that there is truth and lies to everything in our human existence. Separating the two is pretty much impossible. But, in my stillness and silence, with an open mind and open heart, I gain more clarity. The things I cannot see and find hard to define are the things that give me faith, and it is with faith that I walk through my human existence.
Virginia, wherever you may be, I want you to know that One Hundred and Twenty-One years later, there are still people questioning the existence of Santa Claus, and there are still people, like Francis, letting them know that Santa Claus does exist. Given your chosen profession, I am sure that you believed the response in THE SUN to be true and thus believed in Santa Claus. I am here to tell you Virginia, “I believe too”.
It is my wish my dear readers, that this year and every year you experience some of the unseen wonders in this world, that you are able to celebrate them with childlike abandonment, and that you never forget to believe.
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