A Greater New You

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." ~Hal Borland

The countdown has begun for many. The preparations for a new year are beginning. People are writing down their New Year's resolutions. The plans for 2010 are taking shape as we speak. The last day of 2009 will ring out in festive fashion. The first day of 2010 will be rung in with wild exhuberance for all to come.

As we prepare, take stock in what was accomplished in 2009. Look back to all those that you have made a difference to. Look back at all those people that made a difference in your life.

We do not forget all that we lost or learned during 2009. We continue on into the new year with greater expectation to accomplish even more. Take this week to prepare for a countdown to a greater you.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day - Enjoy the holiday and thank you for a great year.

Christmas, Yes Virginia

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus: The Classic Edition

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exists, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.” -Francis Pharcellus Church

As we enter into the Christian holiday of Christmas, the spirit of Christmas that can be felt by people of all religions is embodied in this letter.

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Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

~~~~~THE LETTER~~~~~

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.

~~~~~EDITORS RESPONSE~~~~~

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 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 eternal 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 they 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 may 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, fancy, 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 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.

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Have a safe and merry Christmas! To all have a happy holiday season and new year!

Christmas Quiet

"The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas." -WC Jones

Here we are, the day before the day of the eve of "THE" day. Another day in the week you might think. But each day is special and wonderful if you think about it. There will of course be last minute shopping. The patience of people will be tested. The problems in your life will not magically disappear.

But like a gentle snow fall in the forest, for a short time we can enjoy the 'coming home' this holiday season brings to us. If you take the time to listen to the gentle rush of a breeze through that forest of new fallen snow. If you take the time to enjoy the moments of this season. It will be very much like coming home to mother.

The words to a song by Ben Lee that kind of resonate this time of year read;

Sweet mother I'm comin' home
Tell me mother can you hear me sing?
Your love is everything
Heart and soul
Breath and skin
Your love is everything

They come from Song For The Divine Mother Of The Universe. The link is to the song on Amazon...so no surprises.

What I like is that we each can find a song in our hearts to sing. And that no matter how it is sung, we are not alone during this season. If we simply take time to hear that quiet gentle song inside, we'll be prepared for most anything.