Posted by
The Patriot on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 10:50:56 AM
"Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," are some of the best remembered words ever written about Christmas. They are part of Francis P. Church's 1897 editorial in the
New York Sun, written in response to 8-year old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor inquiring if Santa Claus was real. You can read the entire column
here, and I recommend you do so.
There is always much debate over the role of Santa Claus in the Christmas season. "Christmas is too commercialized!", and "It's about the birth of Christ, not Santa Claus!," are two of the more common protests. But in Church's essay, I find a great deal of understanding as to what Christmas is all about, and it is fitting for all who celebrate the season, religious or secular.
Church's message is that Christmas is about,
"love and generosity and devotion"...things we would all do well to not just observe, but to practice. To me, his writing is of Santa Claus as the
very real symbol of the
very real spirit of love and giving that we celebrate at Christmas. So to me, whether you believe that spirit comes from people, with no divine spark, or whether you believe it comes from a God who gave us his most precious Gift over 2000 years ago, you can believe that it is real. And thus so is Santa Claus. He is our our simple symbol of that spirit, created for children...but still suitable for adults.
I know now, as I have for quite some time, that a fat man in a red suit does not enter my house and leave gifts the night of December 24th. But I also know, as Francis P. Church knew, that "
the most real
things in the world are those that neither children
nor men can see." So I believe. I hope you do, too.
Merry Christmas.