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Christmas

Lilydeer Christmas Magic

December 25, 2014 By Tom Sadler

a tiny Lilydeer
a tiny Lilydeer

My very clever wife made this very special Christmas gift two years ago. The two small horns are Lily’s puppy teeth.

It graces our home as a reminder of the magic that is Christmas.

The simple things really are the best!

Here’s hoping this finds you safe, happy and in the company of those you love.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Is it all real?

December 24, 2014 By Tom Sadler

Originally published in The (New York) Sun, this September, 1897 editorial by Francis Church is still the best response to those who question the magic that is Christmas.

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
115 West Ninety Fifth Street
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 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, 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.

Merry Christmas 2013

December 25, 2013 By Tom Sadler

The magic of the little Lilydeer continues…

a tiny Lilydeer
a tiny Lilydeer

The gift of Christmas presence

December 25, 2008 By Tom Sadler

Merry Christmas! I hope that you are enjoying this special day.

This year our family did something a little different for Christmas. We focused more on “presence” rather than “presents”.

What that means is we focused on being with family, friends or the community, rather than buying a lot of stuff. Of course with the economic times being what they are the idea was pretty good for the rest of the family.

This week we spent some time doing for others in the community. Little things we might not otherwise have done because we were too busy.

We gave a little time and energy for others We went out of our way to be more involved with our friends. We called, wrote, texted, twittered and just said Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.

As a family, we will be cooking a big meal together. Everyone is either cooking with us or bringing a part of the meal.

Presence, it has been much better than presents already.

You can read more in my column in The New Virginian here.

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