The real Santa Claus
“DEAR EDITOR: 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?”
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” is the famous reply we all know by heart, and probably use from time to time over the holidays. The full article from which this reply is taken offers a much deeper lesson to consider over the holiday.
In 1897, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, a coroner’s assistant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was asked by his then eight-year-old daughter, Virginia (1889-1971), whether Santa Claus really existed. Virginia had begun to doubt there was a Santa Claus, because her friends had told her that he did not exist.
Dr. O’Hanlon suggested she write to the New York Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper at the time, assuring her that “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” While he may have been passing the buck, he unwittingly gave one of the paper’s editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, an opportunity to rise above the simple question, and address the philosophical issues behind it.
Church was a war correspondent during the American Civil War, a time which saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in much of society. Although the paper ran the editorial in the seventh place on the editorial page its message was so moving that more than a century later it remains the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language.
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 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.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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Progress?
A friend of mine, Mark Pinto, is an example of a person whose destiny was probably foretold from the day he was born. So visual and creative he can’t eat lunch with you without doodling on the napkin, Mark runs a successful consulting business providing “graphic facilitation” to clients, helping them with issues ranging from personal leadership, self-directed teamwork, and large group decision-making.
Mark also has a blog called Sketchy Business that he posts to every once in a while. Recently, Mark wrote a post on what happened to his family when the electricity in his neighborhood went out. You might be surprised at the result - the family ended up spending “rich, relaxing and productive” time together.
Which makes me wonder - are we really making progress with all of our so-called advancements?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we should abandon electricty, light bulbs and automobiles, but I do think Mark eluded to an important concept in his post. On what basis should we evaluate Progress? Too often it seems progress is put in terms of how much more money I can make, how much more productive I can be, or how much more quickly I can get from point A to point B.
Meanwhile, where do we stand on cultural and societal progress? We will pump billions into advanced energy research over the next few years, and rightly so, but if we also continue to cut funding to social, cultural and educational institutions, what message are we sending to our citizens; to the world? More importantly, what kind of country are we building?
We need more focus on family, mutual respect and rich, meaningful relationships in this country. I’m not talking about simple “family values” rhetoric that has become a required paragraph in every politicians stump speech. I’m talking about figuring out how to create authentic connections like Mark had with his family, without the electricity having to shut off.
Here’s my simple proposition: let’s not wait for our government to do this for us. I’m not saying I’m down on the government. I am saying this is something we need to take responsibility for. Instead of waiting for the electricity to go out, let’s all spend more nights than not working on our son’s and daughter’s homework with them. Instead of waiting for the neighbors to invite us over, let’s invite them over for a bowl of chili and some warm bread. Instead of waiting for the price of gas to come down, let’s form a carpool and save some money while we build some relationships.
Instead of waiting for our significant other to tell us how much they care for us, let’s tell them first. Extra credit - add family and friends to that one.
Just because the electricity comes back on, we don’t have to be different people.
Please help get this message out. Forward this message on to at least one person you know will take it to heart. It’s not about chain letters and it’s not about promoting my blog (copy and paste the text into your own E-mail, I don’t care). But if we simply stand by and let “progress” march us by, then no whining when we end up with a life and society that doesn’t fit with our values. It’s about Balance my friends and right now, there is precious little of it on the end of the scale that matters most.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 8/29/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
For you E-mail readers of DCO, I changed the timing of when updates get sent out. You may have noticed you only get one E-Mail and it gets sent early afternoon-ish (EST). I changed this to be earlier in the day, so you should receive it late morning now. This was mainly to get the “weekend” reader into your hands early enough so you could actually have it for the weekend.
It’s hard to believe Labor Day is upon us already, but Monday is the holiday. Summer sure went quick this year. Is it getting older that makes the years go by so quickly, or do we just get busier as adults and let things pass us by easier?
Regardless, have a great holiday weekend. Do a favor for me and let someone special know how much they mean to you.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- Is creating your own personal mission statement on your agenda? Not sure how to get started. Following the link to a summary of three separate articles addressing the topic.
- Creating a sense of urgency is an important skill for many of us. However, that doesn’t mean you want your organization running around frantically in unorchestrated chaos. Here’s a good introduction to something called “urgent patience”.
- In my opinion the best leadership blog I’ve come across yet, George Ambler’s The Practice of Leadership never disappoints. It seems like every post is a candidate for the Weekend Reader. His most recent is no exception, writing about the 4 key components of a personal leadership vision.
Thought-Provokers
- Looking for a universal metric by which to measure yourself, your life or your work?
For Fun
- If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time online, both for work and for play. This quick post outlines 14 simple ways to boost your online productivity. All the tips are very simple, but make a lot of sense. There should be something for just about everyone in there.
- SlideShare is an online site that allows you to upload presentations and share them via a blog, website, or allow them to be downloaded. I tested this out with a recent post embedding a presentation on Positive Attitude. If you’re looking for a simple way to share and/or embed presentations in your site, check out this SlideShare demo.
Books
- The book Leading with Kindness covers the topic of respect and it’s relationship to honesty. With an overview that links dishonesty to disrespect and ultimately to hatred of self, what would appear at first as a rather pollyanna topic, ends up with the potential to greatly impact your organization, and yourself.
Tips & Tricks
- Why is an online presence important to your career? Here’s a short article with some answers to that question and some suggestions for getting started if you haven’t already.
