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 a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
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 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 you 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 men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, 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 lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
A little background on the Story of how NORAD began to track Santa
51 years ago in Colorado Springs a Radio Station was doing a special Christmas program where children could call in and hear where Santa was at.
The Newspaper miss printed the number.. and instead of getting the paper the children were actually calling into the office at NORAD..
The manager of that section answered the first call and being a kind hearted and fun loving kind of guy he just went along with it all answering the phone and updating the children on where Santa was... and the tradition was started.
I thought it was such a sweet story.. and yeah I am an old softie..
We used this last night to shoo the little ones to bed... they loved it and Andreas, our 4 year old, got out the globe so we could show him exactly where "Santa" was at...
ChasUFarley, I have to say that is the one thing I miss about Christmas....having little ones, in their footie pajamas, rush to the tree then stand there in wide-eyed amazement.
Ya know, for once, I'd like to see where NORAD is 'tracking Santa' on his annual flight, and then (in increasingly anxious voices) report a rogue F-15 scramble, intercept Santa's sleigh in mid air (due to the pilot's delusions that Santa is really a terrorist), and start to fearfully report that, despite their best attempts to intercept the rogue pilot, he starts to let loose his interceptor missiles towards Santa's sleigh. ..... :blink:
..... then everybody there breaks out in boisterous laughter, and say "J-U-S-T kidding, kiddies!"
BWAHAhahahahahahaha...!
No Virginia, there isn't a Santa Claus! Just you, and me, and the rest of civilization who needs to get up off of our collective duffs, and try to improve the condition of humanity!
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RumRunner
And as I said to my, now adult, children...If NORAD still believes in Santa so should you...
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krys
Thanks Rumrunner! That's a great way to look at it.....and thanks for showing us this last year I believe, or perhaps it was the year before.
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RumRunner
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 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 you 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 men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, 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 lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
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kimberly
I saw this on the History channel the other day. The family still has the letter in their posession and will not sell it for any price.
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leafytwiglet
A little background on the Story of how NORAD began to track Santa
51 years ago in Colorado Springs a Radio Station was doing a special Christmas program where children could call in and hear where Santa was at.
The Newspaper miss printed the number.. and instead of getting the paper the children were actually calling into the office at NORAD..
The manager of that section answered the first call and being a kind hearted and fun loving kind of guy he just went along with it all answering the phone and updating the children on where Santa was... and the tradition was started.
I thought it was such a sweet story.. and yeah I am an old softie..
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ChasUFarley
We used this last night to shoo the little ones to bed... they loved it and Andreas, our 4 year old, got out the globe so we could show him exactly where "Santa" was at...
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kimberly
ChasUFarley, I have to say that is the one thing I miss about Christmas....having little ones, in their footie pajamas, rush to the tree then stand there in wide-eyed amazement.
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GarthP2000
(Skeptical satire mode on)
Ya know, for once, I'd like to see where NORAD is 'tracking Santa' on his annual flight, and then (in increasingly anxious voices) report a rogue F-15 scramble, intercept Santa's sleigh in mid air (due to the pilot's delusions that Santa is really a terrorist), and start to fearfully report that, despite their best attempts to intercept the rogue pilot, he starts to let loose his interceptor missiles towards Santa's sleigh. ..... :blink:
..... then everybody there breaks out in boisterous laughter, and say "J-U-S-T kidding, kiddies!"
No Virginia, there isn't a Santa Claus! Just you, and me, and the rest of civilization who needs to get up off of our collective duffs, and try to improve the condition of humanity!
Edited by GarthP2000Link to comment
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