Virginia, Ted Lasso and I "BELIEVE"

I BELIEVE, do you?

My family celebrates Christmas, and last night we met "Santa". After, my children shared how much stage fright they had! They both felt a sense of wonder and awe, and we speculated if this was the real Santa, or one of his trusted associates. No one was willing to definitively say one way or another.

But you know what, I believe in Santa. I believe in that kind of magic and lore.

Because at the core of all the different religious and cultural traditions, there is always magic in generosity, giving and gathering.

​Yet, it takes effort to believe in magic, to suspend our skepticism and quickness to disprove or judge. But it's worth that effort so that we can feel the joy and boundlessness that's really available to us all.

So this holiday season, regardless of what you celebrate, I wonder if you would entertain more magic, enchantment and belief in the things that are not always tangible.

If you need a little help, maybe start here. In 1897, a child (Virginia) wrote to a newspaper asking about the existence of Santa Claus and an anonymous editor answers in the most heartfelt way.

Below is an expert that may help all of us reconnect with our childlike wonder and sense of belief in magic:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical 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 [grown-ups] or children’s are little. 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 eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor (grown-ups) can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. 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 (grown-up] … that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view … the beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else so real and abiding No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

- Francis Pharcellus Church The Sun 1897

What do you think? I agree with Francis. How deary would it be if there was no Santa Claus? It would be as dreary as if there were no YOUs. ​

And if Santa doesn't do it for you, how about Ted Lasso? He believes.

ps: you can view the original Virginia letter and response, at the Library of Congress here