Merry Christmas!!!!!
yes, christmas was over yesterday, but still, merry christmas!!!! :)
in a related topic, i've came across an article from the news paper. the article is from a christian, doubting the existance of Santa Claus. in the article, the author is selling chrsitmas greeting cards drew by students. He was shocked at the amount of Santa Claus related theme in the winning card design. being a devoted Christian, who didn't believe in Santa Claus, refused to sell those cards due to religious reasons. His explaination of his situation to his colleague was futile, and was forced to sell those cards in the church that he attended regularly. expected by him, sales are very bad. one of the church member even told him that santa clause is not a good "thinking (思想)"...
the purpose of the article is not to debate whether Santa Claus is a good concept or not, but to introduce a famous letter from a pastor's son to a child named Virginia. The title is "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." you can find that article easilly because it's a famous letter and The New York Suns will publish that letter every Christmas...
at the end of the article, the author still have trouble trying to relate Santa Claus with Christmas.
Now come my purpose of writing this topic... :)
I'm not here to shoot christianity. But it's undeniable that quite an amount of Christians, in my opinion, are overzealous. It's fine that they said there's only 1 God. It's fine that they believe in what they are believing. It's even fine, in some degree, that they claimed that other religions are praying at false idol... But it's not fine that they start insulting other religious publicly. I once almost had a fight with my sister because of this issue.
Anyway, in this case, i won't say that the author is overzealous. he just doesn't want to relate Santa Claus with Christmas because i believe that he think it's an insult that Santa Claus is more famous compare to Jesus Christ and people are relating Christmas with Santa Claus more that Jesus. just look at the TV programmes... how many Santa Clause theme movies was released in during Chrsitmas? How many of them has Jesus or Christian theme?
Maybe Santa Claus is just a marketing gimmick that some genius marketer has thought out to boost their sales during this festive seasons. Maybe Santa Claus character is not real. Maybe no one really lives in North Pole, commanding legions of elves and making toys whole year and distribute to kinds all around the world. Maybe there's no such person that has lived for so many years, and not getting any older with each passing years...
Santa Claus is not about who get the most expensive gifts or who has been good or naughty, or who's parents are more wealthy and bought thier children a BMW... No. Santa Claus is more than that. That old ah pek in the red suit represent an idea. It's a great way to teach childrens to give for the sake of making other people happy and appreciate what other offered. It's not that Santa Claus can earn anything by flying around the globe, break into other people's chimney and risked getting burn in the butt or attacked by house dog to deliver those gift. He just want to make other people happy. that's all. It's a great value that adults can teach to the kids instead of denying the existence of Santa Claus.
Besides the value of giving, the value of appreciation is equally important. just imagine this. you're the Santa Claus, who had worked all day long just to give other people gifts. You were tired and exhausted. But before you leave a house, you saw a plate of chocolate chipped cookies and a glass of warm milk on the table, with a thank you card besides it... appreciation cost nothing, but it can bring lots of happiness to the recieving side...
Maybe you can kill Santa Claus from children's imagination with facts, figure, scientific explanation, religious reasons, etc etc etc... But you can never kill what Santa Claus represent, which is an idea, a believe, a wish, a dream.
And here's a scanned letter that i've mentioned earlier... free of charge.. :D
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.
Give and Appreciate. Merry Christmas everyone... :)
