Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
This could be one of the most famous lines ever printed in a US newspaper dating back to 1897 and the New York Sun newspaper. It is also suggested this editorial is the most widely read piece in newspaper history.
It might be, but here's my take.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
Even in this year of civil unrest and upheaval, when those who do not know each other except on social media challenge each other's versions of right and wrong, I believe there is still an underlying truth that mankind in all its wisdom is but a child looking for its own truth.
Men are frail and insecure. We tease, fight and love with the same individuals we call sister and brother, mother and father from our birth to our deaths. Within that lifetime we strive to find ourselves as we reach out into the world around us and for some, into the cosmos. We are but a speck in a universe we do not understand, living on a blue, reflecting point of light in an immense expanse.
So what is this Santa Claus, this legend of the north blanketed in a world of cold and white? To me it is simple. He is light, and more than anything else he is hope; hope in the goodness of mankind that even through all the trials and faults we have we will always strive to see the goodness in ourselves as a people. The man on the street who gives his shoes to someone without; the woman who gives her heart to a child who knows only sadness; the unemployed father who hands the last five dollars in his wallet to someone standing on a corner; these are what that hope becomes as manifested in the hearts of those who believe, who believe in the spirit of hope and love.
For you see Virginia, each of us in some way is Santa Claus. We may not be able to show it each day of our lives but at some point, each of us will become a Santa Claus to another and give the gift of hope to someone who is on the brink, for Santa Claus lives deep within us all, even you, and you will find him when you need him most.
