We’re living through a scary time that requires we each remember the magic in the world. With Christmas approaching, I want to share an editorial written 126 years ago. The message remains as relevant today as it was then.
“Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” is a line from Francis Pharcellus Church’s editorial published in The Sun on September 21, 1897. Is There a Santa Claus was written in answer to a letter from 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon. His response is the most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language.
Here’s a copy of her letter and the original editorial:
Dear Editor:
I am eight 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 O’Hanlon
115 W. 95th St.
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 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 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.
We all need something to believe, and I’m certain now, more than ever in my life, this remains true. With hate on the rise throughout the world and anger replacing kindness and good manners, we need to remember what is important. Faith in our world, in ourselves, and in each other is necessary. Healing requires listening to our deepest selves and each other. Listen until you hear in your heart what another person is crying out to tell you. Listen to the truth within your own hearts.
We are all children inside and if we could imagine that child when we interact with each other, we’d allow ourselves to remember magic and wonder.
I hope I am never too old to hold wonder in my heart, and may I always believe in the magic of the unseen universe.
As the editor wrote, “The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.”
What this Virginia would Love for Christmas
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Thank you and Happy Holidays.
A lovely reminder, Ginni. Thank you.❤️
Beautifully written, both the article and your comments. I believe we all want the same thing, life and love. We all want to be heard, to be valued and to be respected. If we give these things to others we are more likely to get these things in return. Thank you for this holiday gift to us.