The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-12-20

the Illusions OF Oanta CiauS. Anu
yet do not all of us share these sweet
vagaries, and are not men and wo-
men merely children grown in stature
and experience, but children still? Is
there not always an unconscious sub
mission to the spell of Santa Claus
when we witness the wide-eyed won
der of the children at the magic APP
pearance of the Christmas tree, and
do we not actually shake off the
shell of age and WEAKNESS and be-
come children again in the spirit
of Christmas?
Illusions? Life is made up of
them. Were it not for the illusions
the daily grind of existence would not
be worth the trouble. We have H.
~lusions about ourselves, picturing
things not as they are or ever will
be, but as we would like to have them.
We have illusions about our dear
ones, weaving fanciful fabrics of our
dreams for them, and often, if we
allowed ourselves to delve into the
murky depths Of our experience, we
would know that these dreams are
Illusions, fairy castles that will
rome day crumble under the winds
of fate. Had we not lived so long
we could not love so well.
"Oh, my heart grows weak as a
woman's,
And fountains of feeling will flow,
When l think of the paths steer and
stony
Where the feet of theS dear ones
h. must go; n
OF the mountains Of sin hanging DER
them,
OF the tempests of fate blowing
wild;
Oh, there's nothing on earth half so
so holy
As the inrocent heart OF Il child"
And we of the older growth who
live In the sublimity of faith linked
with hope" to whom the world and
human existence present engulfing
mysteries, and who cling to our
images as the salt and seasoning Of
our daily toil-we cannot deny 10
childhood its own more sublime rhap-
sodies on take from the glory Of a
child's life a single fairy prince or
a Santa Claus. What if there are
no iaify princes or Santa Clauses?
DO we actually know that they do not
exist? But if we rob childhood Of
its innocent illusions what have we
to give in their places? Philosophy?
Cosmogony? Metaphysics? Bosh! We
do not understand these things our
selves and if we did what would be
all knowledge in the balance against
the infinity of c~hildhood's tinseled
world? Who al say but that the
little baby, newer from heaven come,
knows more than all the bearded
savants of the earth? And the little
folks are entitled to their dreams,
their fancies and their entertainments
quite as much as are the older ones
who only think they are wise and who
% not even realize that wisdom and
knowledge are not the same.
What if some supreme authority
should say to all the men and women
Of the earth: You are living in a
world of dreams and delusions; your
friends are not true; your loves are
not reciprocated; your sacrifices are
in vain and all the beauty of your
imaeinings and your warnings are
but ashes?
What would life be stripped bare of
all the adornments of the soul? So
why should we destroy the illusions
of childhood and rob I'M ocence of
! It's W cherished sprites and spirits
I and bring to the little ones a prema-
: ture shock of what we ourselves
think are realities? Are we so sure
y of our w wisdom that we dare Law
a ruthless hand upon the storehouse
g of a child's unfolding mind and take
therefrom the ~childhood's Santa
Claus? For, after all, what is Santa
G Claus? He is the embodiment of the
purest emotions of the human heart
h he is the shrine of the beautiful faitl
d and exalted dependency of hol,
childhood; he showers his benedic
tons upon a sordid and hard exis
d tence and transmutes actualities int
n dreams; he distills a magic potion tina
It causes the Man and the Woman t,
Y read rev meaning in each other
J. moist eyes as their glances NEE
n across that little paradise If TOW