Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[aniiess]

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Hi:)NiCe To mEeT YoU

For many years millions of people have believed in Santa Claus. Today millions more believe in him...
Do You BeLiEvE In SaNtA ClAuS??

::regards::

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[RedRose]

nice to meet you and Santa too!

[Bob S.]

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
Editorial Page, New York Sun, 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:

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 sceptical 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 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 and a Happy New Year!!!!

[Cristi]

I've never believed in Santa Claus not even when I was a little kid, I'm skeptical, but I'm not blind in my heart nor feelingless. I think all those beautiful feelings that Christmas invite us to share don't belong to an imaginary "hero", but to the people who're really concerned that the most important paths to follow are peace and tolerance. That is why I don't need to believe in Santa Claus to love, be generous, enjoy poetry or live the fantastic world of literature.

Anyway, Santa Claus isn't a bad guy to believe in, so I really don't care if anybody does believe in him... but, I do think everybody should stop and analize the posibility that there are people in this world who think he doesn't mean anything in their lifes but they do believe that being tolerant, generous and peaceful is highly important in the world, though we can achieve those values by ourselves without the help of any outsider.

And remember... not everybody in the world celebrates Christmas, actually I do celebrate it because it's a family tradition and because it is a nice moment to be united and close to the people who you love... I am agnostic, so that'll explain more about myself...

Cya!
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�PURA VIDA! Carpe Diem

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear."
Mark Twain.

[aniiess]

EvErYbOdy:
May the Peace of the Lord fill your soul
May the Love of God fill your heart
May the Light of the Lamb shine upon your path
May Hope Eternal guide you through the world
May Christmas remain with you each and every day...
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::Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit::

[gothic_broken_faerie]

omg. of cors i believe in santa!! he's big fat and wheres black!! and flies on a harley!! wot is soo unbelieveable bout dat?
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death; is only the beginning