Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below,
expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful
author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

 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

 Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptic al 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 childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external 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 you 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 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, 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 lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Going Home For Christmas

He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant chair;
He never guessed they'd miss him, or he'd surely have been there;
He couldn't see his mother or the lump that filled her throat,
Or the tears that started falling as she read his hasty note;
And he couldn't see his father, sitting sorrowful and dumb,
Or he never would have written that he thought he couldn't come.

He little knew the gladness that his presence would have made,
And the joy it would have given, or he never would have stayed.
He didn't know how hungry had the little mother grown
Once again to see her baby and to claim him for her own.
He didn't guess the meaning of his visit Christmas Day
Or he never would have written that he couldn't get away.

He couldn't see the fading of the cheeks that once were pink,
And the silver in the tresses; and he didn't stop to think
How the years are passing swiftly, and next Christmas it might be
There would be no home to visit and no mother dear to see.
He didn't think about it--I'll not say he didn't care.
He was heedless and forgetful or he'd surely have been there.

Are you going home for Christmas? Have you written you'll be there?
Going home to kiss the mother and to show her that you care?
Going home to greet the father in a way to make him glad?
If you're not I hope there'll never come a time you'll wish you had.
Just sit down and write a letter--it will make their heart strings hum
With a tune of perfect gladness--if you'll tell them that you'll come.

...Edgar A. Guest

A Christmas Legend

There's a beautiful legend
That's never been told
It may have been known
To the Wise Men of old
How three little children
Came early at dawn,
With hearts that were sad
To where Jesus was born.

One could not see,
One was too lame to play;
While the other, a mute
Not a word could he say.
Yet, led by His Star,
They came there to peep
At the little Lord Jesus
With eyes closed in sleep.

But how could the Christ Child,
So lovely and fair,
Not waken and smile
When he heard their glad prayer,
Of hope at His coming,
Of faith in His birth,
Of praise at His bringing
God's peace to the earth?

And, then, as the light
Softly came through the door,
The lad that was lame
Stood upright once more.
The boy that was mute
Started sweetly to sing
While the child that was blind
Looked with joy on the King!!

...Author Unknown

Bethlehem of Judea

A little child,
A shining star.
A stable rude,
The door ajar.

Yet in that place,
So crude, folorn,
The Hope of all
The world was born.

...Author Unknown

Christmas Everywhere

Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
Christmas in lands of the fir-tree and pine,
Christmas in lands of the palm-tree and vine,
Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white,
Christmas where cornfields stand sunny and bright,
Christmas where children are hopeful and gay,
Christmas where old men are patient and gray,
Christmas where peace, like a dove in his flight,
Broods o'er brave men in the thick of the fight;
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all;
No palace too great, no cottage too small.

...Phillip Brooks

Christmas

Every time a hand reaches out
To help another....that is Christmas
Every time someone puts anger aside
And strives for understanding
That is Christmas

Every time people forget their differences
And realize their love for each other
That is Christmas

May this Christmas bring us
Closer to the spirit of human understanding
Closer to the blessing of peace!

...Author Unknown

The Friendly Beasts

Jesus, our brother, strong and good,
Was humbly born in a stable rude.
The friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus, our brother, strong and good.

"I," said the donkey, all shaggy and brown,
"I carried his mother uphill and down,
I carried her safely to Bethlehem town.
"I," said the donkey, all shaggy and brown.

"I," said the cow, all white and red,
"I gave him my manger for His bed,
I gave Him my hay to pillow His head.
"I," said the cow, all white and red.

"I," said the sheep with the curly horn,
"I gave Him my wool for a blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn.
"I," said the sheep with the curly horn.

"I," said the camel, all yellow and black,
"Over the desert upon my back,
I brought Him a gift in the wise man's pack.
"I" said the camel, all yellow and black.

"I," said the dove from the rafters high,
"I cooed Him to sleep so He would not cry.
We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I.
"I" said the dove from the rafters high.

So every beast, by some good spell,
In the stable dark was glad to tell
Of the gift he gave Immanuel-
The gift he gave Immanuel.

...Medieval Verse

The Holy Star

As shadows cast by cloud and sun
Flit o'er the summer grass,
So, in thy sight, Almighty One,
Earth's generations pass.

And while the years, an endless host,
Come pressing swiftly on,
The brightest names that earth can boast
Just glisten and are gone.

Yet doth the Star of Bethlehem shed
A lustre pure and sweet,
And still it leads, as once it led,
To the Messiah's feet.

O Father, may that holy star
Grow every year more bright,
And send its glorious beams afar
To fill the world with light.

...William Cullen Bryant