Posted on 12/24/2008 9:58:37 AM PST by rabscuttle385
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"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"VIRGINIA O'HANLON. "115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET." VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] 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 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.
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For our KOC Christmas Greeting on the local access station, I changed it to “Yes Virginia, there is a Jesus”.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
(Luke 2:10-14, NIV)
. . . . .
Yes, Virginia, there is a boogeyman.
Merry Christmas from a member of the Templars (S.M.O.T.J.)!
Thanks for nothing for posting that.
Wrong Messiah!
This whole Santa Clause business is just strange to me. Always has been. Why do people want to believe in a fake magical old man, when there´s actually a true story about St Nick?
E-freaking-gad...that was uncalled for.
I just saw the original letter on an “Antiques Roadshow” highlights segment. It was brought in by a family member, with a full panoply of provenance and documentation.
all I want for Christmas is a bailout
I’ve always had my suspicions about that Virginia O’Hanlon letter. What child refers to her own friends as “my little friends”?
LOL
You would not believe what your neighborhood looks like now. You're lucky you're not around to see it.
Um...because it's a lot of fun?
A child that was educated in a real school.
Nicholas of Myra: total fiction
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