The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-12-13

them! Were 1t not for the illusions
the daily grind of existence would not
be worth the trouble. We have IL
~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
some 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 the dear ones
must go;
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 a 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 u
images as the salt and seasoning of
our daily toil-we cannot deny to
childhood its own more sublime rhap-
sodies or take from the glory of a
chlld's life a single fairy prince or
a Santa Claus. What if there are
no fairy 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. Wei
do not understand these things our-I
and if we did what would be
all knowledge in the balance against
the infinity of childhood's tinseled
Who can say but that the
little baby, newer from heaven come,
knows nor than air the bearded
savants of the earth? And the little
folks r entitled to their dreams,
heir fancies and their entertainments
quite as much as are the older onesI
who only think they are wise and wio
10 not ven realize that wisdom and
are not the same.
What if some supreme authority
say to all the men and women
IF the earth: You are living in al
world of dreams and decisions; your
are not true; your loves are
lot r~eciprocated; your sacrifices are
n vain and all the beauty of your
maginings and your warnings are
)ut ashes?
What would life be stripped bare of
Ill the aGornments of the soul? Sol
Why should we destroy the illusionsl
If childhood and rob I'M. ocence of
is w cherished sprites and spirits
bring to the little ones a prema-
,ure shock of what we ourselves
.hink are realities? Are we so sure
If u w wisdom that we dare lay
ruthless hand upon the %storehouse
If a child's unfolding mind and take
.herefrom the childhood's Santa
For, after all, what is Santa
He is the embodiment of the
)ureSt emotions of the human heart
lie is the shrine of the beautiful faith
and exalted dependency of holy
childhood; he showers his benedic-
ions upon a sordid and hard exis-
and transmutes actualities into
he distills a magic potion that
the Man and the Woman to
cad rev meaning in each others
eyes as their glances meet
across that little paradise of toys
hat form the surprise" of Christ
mas morning. And only among those
within whom the eternal uoul of
childhood persists, is there under
tanding of the illusions of life and
# the real meaning. of Santa Claus.
Edgar P. Allen, in X. C. Journal.
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THE SACRIFICE AND POWER +,