And now, for your reading pleasure, I have chosen some
Christmas classics.
Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
A famous letter from Virginia O”Hanlon to the editorial board of
The New York Sun, first printed in 1897:
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the
communication below, expressing at the same time our great
gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends
of The Sun:
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?
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 external 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 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 Visit from St. Nicholas
by Clement C. Moore
”Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ”kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter”s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet! On Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes – how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself,
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
—
The Christmas Story from Luke2: 1-40
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census
should be taken of the entire Roman world.
(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.)
And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to
the house and line of David.
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be
married to him and was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is
Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on
whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, “Let”s Go to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby,
who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what
had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her
heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the
things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been
told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was
named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had
been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of
Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to
Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to
be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping
with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two
young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was
righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not
die before he had seen the Lord”s Christ.
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the
parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom
of the Law required,
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your
servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in
their sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and
for glory to your people Israel.”
The child”s father and mother marveled at what was said about
him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This
child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts
of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your
own soul too.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher.
She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years
after her marriage, and then was widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting
and praying.
Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God
and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the
redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law
of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of
Nazareth.
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with
wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
—
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely
more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father.
He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man
as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or
borough in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the
alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them, for
he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this
globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of
laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be
blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle
up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms.
His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the
Total Abstinence Principle ever afterward; and it was always said
of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive
possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of
us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!
The End
And from all of us at Bar Chat (well, just me really),
Merry Christmas!!
Brian Trumbore
*See ya Monday.
