Re: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa...

[Astoria Community Unit School Dist 1 <ascu@DARKSTAR.RSA.LIB.IL.US>]

In a picture book illus. by Suzanne Hausman published by Reader's Digest:
We take pleasure in answering at once and 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:
        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, 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 that 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 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 would have no
enjoyment, except in the 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 all the chimnies to catch Santa Claus on Christmas
Eve, 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. 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. The
most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can
see. 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 the 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.

May you have a blessed New Year!
Dave Little

On Tue, 5 Dec 1995, Sister MaryVeronica wrote:

> Please, does anyone have the text to this?  One of my English teachers has
> requested it and I don't seem to have it.
> Any internet site would be fine, too.  Thanks.
> Sr. MV aka the flying nun, back on the face of the planet...
> --
> Sister Mary Veronica,CHS      "Give what you have to someone -
> Xavier High School             it may be greater than you dare
> New York City                  to think." -Beau's Book
> 212-924-7900    and  mveronic@nylink.org
>