LETTER: Yes, there is a Santa Claus
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Yes, there is a Santa Claus
On Sept. 21, 1897, an editorial headlined “Is There a Santa Claus?” appeared in The Sun{/em} in New York.
The editorial was the result of a letter written by an 8-year-old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon. The correspondent on this was a writer named Francis Church, and he wrote during the American Civil War, a time that saw much suffering and a lack of hope and faith in society. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” has become an everlasting expression to insist that something questioned is true.
Now, I’m 53 years-old, but we all must have something to believe in, right? After all, if we don’t believe in something or someone, or even each other, then what is life really about? The true meaning of Christmas is set by a greater and much different story about a baby in a manger. And, as Church wrote, “The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.”
But, as it was in 1897, we are going through some rough days, so I pose the question to you and all of your readers: Is There a Santa Claus?
For me, there will always be, at the very heart of Christmas someone known as the Savior of the world, and a little touch of magic added with a man who wears a red suit and visits the dreams of children everywhere. And, if there are any little readers out there who aren’t sure if there is a Santa Claus or not, I would simply repeat the words of Francis Church: “He exists as certainly as love, generosity and devotion exist.”
Alison Marth-Stevens
Richeyville