Is There Really A Santa Claus?

“In September, 1897, the Editor of The Sun publication opened a letter from a little girl named Virginia. ‘Is there really a Santa Claus?’ she wanted to know. The answer, from Francis Pharcellus Church, has become the most famous editorial – article that has ever been written.”(Collier’s Junior Classics. Harvest of Holidays.)

“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 really a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon,
115 West 95th Street”

Here is the answer of Church:

“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 incomprehensible 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 children 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 coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Clause, but that is no sign 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 no 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 is 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 supernatural 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.”

As I read this editorial, I was amazed on how Church explained the concept of Santa Claus in the eyes of a child. It is a very nice editorial indeed, but I would like to comment on how he explained that the most real things in this world are those that are unseen. Well, this is somehow true because we do not see God and yet we believe that He exists. But Santa Claus?! He could have told the child that Santa Claus does exist but in the form of people who are kind and generous to other people, not just by saying that even though a thing cannot be seen does not mean that it does not exist.

I am saying this because for me, the true Santa Clauses are the ones that care for other people, not just by giving gifts but also by giving support and comfort.

If I were to write the editorial, it would be like this:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. Actually, there are many Santa Clauses in the world. Your little friends do not know this because they do not know what or who really Santa Clause is. You probably know that Santa Claus is very kind, very generous and very loving to children, right? Do you know someone except Santa Claus who is like this to children? Maybe you do, and probably you think he or she is your mother and father. Well, you are right. They are your mother and father. Aside from Santa Claus, they are the ones that are very generous and very kind to you, Virginia. They sometimes give you gifts if you do good things and they love you as who you are.

Being a Santa Claus does not mean that one must have a long line of reindeers and a red bag with so many gifts inside. The real essence of being a Santa Claus is being a man or a child with a pure heart who knows how to acknowledge things and knows the true meaning of constructive criticisms. Acknowledging someone for doing good deeds is really the true characteristic of Santa Claus. You see, Virginia, you too can be a Santa Claus as long as you know the real essence of being one.

Now tell me, Virginia, do you need to see the “real” Santa Claus in order for you to be acknowledged by someone? Of course not, you have your mother and father with you. They are the ones who will love you and acknowledge your works not only on Christmas Day but everyday. Your mother and father are even better than the Santa Claus you know because they give advices for you to follow if you do bad things, unlike the “North Pole guy” who only attends to good people and disregards the bad ones.

Virginia, there is a Santa Clause, not just one but many, and these many Santa Clauses are even better than the one you knew.

Is Love Really Blind?

Ah... Here we go again, talking about the most confusing and the most interesting topic for teenagers, love. No matter how well you explain it to them; they will still have a hard time understanding it. Confusing as it may seem, but it is actually very clear. Anyway, that is not our concern here since we are talking about love and not on how teenagers understand love.

Is love really blind? Well, if you ask me, my answer to that question would be no. Love itself is not blind, actually, love sees more, but since it sees more, it understands more. Since it understands more, it is just willing to see less. Confused? Well, it is like this:

We people, when we start to fall in love, we intend to explore the personality of the person whom we fall in love with. This is the function of what we people call as courtship. In courtship, as we all know, the gentlemen are the ones that initiate the first move while the ladies are the ones that wait for the move. By looking at this point of view, the gentlemen are the first to explore the ladies’ personalities. They get to know the ladies better by talking, dating, etc. depending on what kind of move the gentlemen are making. The ladies also explore the gentlemen at the same time the gentlemen make the move. By the moves that the both sexes are making, they will now feel that love sees more because they now know their good sides and their bad sides.

For the understanding side of love, it is pretty obvious that when the ladies and the gentlemen see more through love, there is a point when they will start to adjust and start to accept their good sides and bad sides in order for the opposing sex to be satisfied. So, is not accepting and adjusting a branch of understanding? Of course it is!

And last, is love really willing to see less? Actually this is the most confusing part, but I will try to explain it as simple as possible. Love indeed sees more and understands more. When these two descriptions happen, we can say that a man and a woman are really in love with each other. If a man and a woman see more, sometimes they disregard the imperfections or the bad sides of the opposing sex. They intend to consider only the good sides of their partner, but please do not misinterpret the “consideration of good sides only” as a proof that love is blind. No, it is not like that. It is mentioned earlier that the men and the women both explore each other so that they will know both their good and bad sides. So there is no possibility that the opposing sexes do not see each other’s bad sides. When the “consideration of the good sides only” happens, it only means that the man or the woman feels that his or her partner is very perfect for him or her, no matter how worse his or her bad side is.

Therefore, love practically is not blind. It is just willing to see less.