Yes, Virginia, There Was a Baby Jesus

(In 1897 Virginia O'Hanlon, then 8 years old, wrote to the editor of the New York Sun asking if Santa Clause was real. It resulted in the editor, Francis P. Church, writing a response entitled Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Clause. That response has become a classic for the Christmas season. This writing is based in part on that letter and response.)

Yes, Virginia, there was a baby Jesus. He was born 2,000 years ago of humble parents in what is today Israel. I know that today you hear a lot of people say "happy holidays" and "seasons greetings." And you see an awful lot about Santa and decorated trees. But there are more than 7,000 of us who still say "Merry Christmas" and display the Nativity scene.

This baby grew up to be a preacher and through his example as well as his preaching he taught us to give food to hungry people, give clothing and shelter to those in need, minister to the suffering and love one another. There were very few things he did not like. Most everything he saw was beautiful and positive. He tried to love everyone and everything. One thing he couldn't abide, though, was anything that divided people. He didn't want us to sit in judgment of each other, criticize each other or hate each other because of the color of their skin or because of our different stations in life. He told us to forgive each other and respond to evil by doing good. He told us to be kind and considerate to everyone and to be patient. He told us to love and obey our parents. There is a great deal more that he had to say and a great deal more he did.

People who knew him personally loved him and wrote about him. They really believed that if God should ever decide to walk among mankind, he would surely walk in the form of this preacher.

As they were telling his story, two of his followers wrote the story of his birth. They were so in love with this man that they used every literary device they could think of to help us appreciate the absolute awe and wonder that surrounded him. They told us about shepherds watching their flocks at night, about angels appearing from heaven and singing beautiful songs announcing his birth. They wrote about a star over his birthplace and about wise men coming from the east to worship him. They wrote about his father and especially about his mother who gave birth in a barn behind a hotel. And when they were through telling the story, the barn became a shrine that had housed a sacred child.

We don't place nativity scenes depicting this wonderful moment on our public squares anymore. That's all right. What matters is that we display his birth and tell these stories in our homes and in our lives like we should.

Virginia, for many of us this day is a holy day and this season is a holy season. So if your mom and dad forget in the hustle and bustle of the season to tell you about the Christ child, perhaps you could get them to slow down and allow you to tell the story to them. Because, yes, Virginia, there was a baby Jesus. And, that's what this holiday season is really all about. Merry Christmas, Virginia.