"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 measure by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists 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 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 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 man 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, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Very cool,indeed!
Merry Christmas!
And a very merry Christmas right back at y’all!
I’ve always been skeptical that a child wrote that letter. What child refers to her own friends as “my little friends”? Kids always think of themselves as big. A kid two years younger than themselves might be a “baby,” but they and their friends are always big kids. It’s grownups who say to kids, “Where are your little friends?” No kid would ever say that.
Thank you Old Sarge for posting this most wonderful of childhood Christmas threads. Always makes me happy and tearful at the same time. How's that work....?
And THANK YOU and Merry Christmas to JimRob and JohnRob and Onyx and all the Awesome Moderators for working so hard to bring us the best forum on the whole world wide web!!
God Bless You All, God Bless America, and I hope you all have a Joyous and Prayerful Christmas!!
Merry, Merry Christmas to all Dear Freeper Friends.
Old Sarge, thank you for posting this lovely, timeless story; it never gets old.
Merriest of Christmas to you and yours!
Thanks so much for posting and pinging
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