It is at this time of year it seems more important than usual to take stock of our lives and assess how we have come through the last 12 months. I believe our connections to Santa Claus, elves, fairies, dreams, hopes and wishes are a huge part of how we feel about our successes in life. I am speaking here about the human spirit.
Just as little eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon queried in September of 1897, wanting some confirmation that there is more to being human and human life than eating, sleeping, reproducing and dying, she asked, 鈥淚s there really a Santa Claus?鈥� And let me add: or am I here alone with nothing in my journey to look forward to other than the inevitable end?
Francis P. Church, a journalist for The New York Sun and who had reported on the front line events of America's Civil War replied to the inquiry: 鈥淣ot believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. 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.鈥�
Francis Church could have allowed all he had seen and experienced in seeing firsthand the horrors of the Civil War battlefields and the atrocities of what men had inflicted on his fellow man. He could have been easily infected by doubt and pessimism, but that is not what his reply to the little girl indicates. He became hopeful and child-like in his response and made room for hope. In short, we see the hope and faith that the human spirit can possess.
We all face the reality of living in a world constructed by mankind. That means we are confronted by all the imperfections and hardships of our own making. This does not mean, however, we need to remain obsessed by hate, malice, bigotry and anger. At this time of year we are reminded by the simple joy of a child; being alive, feeling the warmth of people who love us and accepting that we control very little other than trying to enjoy the present.
The two central characters in this wonderful life story have passed along many gifts. Francis P. Church continued to write for The New York Sun and lived by the motto he learned in his battlefield experiences: Endeavor to clear your mind of can't.
And little Virginia? Even though she was a poor man's daughter, she got her bachelor of arts degree by age 21, obtained a master鈥檚 degree from Columbia University in 1912, became a teacher and then principal and worked in the New York Public School system for 47 years. Virginia O'Hanlon-Douglas died at age 81 on May 13, 1971.
Lives well spent, in my opinion.
Gary Gabel
Madge Lake
