CAROLINE'S CORNER: THERE IS NOTHING MORE REAL THAN LOVE AND GENEROSITY

The following editorial appeared in the New York Sun in 1897 in response to a letter from Virginia O'Hanlon, the 8 years old. She wrote the editor of the Sun to ask about the existence of Santa Claus.

She wrote:

"Dear Editor: 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?"

The editor replied: "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 measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth, an knowledge.

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, an 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 Virginias. There would be no child-like 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 get you papa to hire men to watch 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 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, 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 more real and abiding.

"No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."

For many years this has been one of my favorite Christmas columns, and for many years I have wished that I had written it.

What was true in 1897 is still true today. Talk about a skeptical age! We are taught to question and to find out why and how everything is the way it is.

The most real things are still those that man cannot see. We can't see God, but we know he is there. He exists in the heart and soul of those who will believe.

We can't see love, but it dwells in the hearts of those who dare to accept it.

We can't see faith, but it gives us the will to live day to day.

Who has seen the wind? We see the trees waving their limbs as it passes by.

Who has seen electricity? We see the light bulb burning as a result of its current.

Who has seen Santa Claus? I haven't seen the real one, but the editor of the "New York Sun" made me believe many years ago. In all this wide world there is nothing else more real and abiding than the spirit of love and generosity.