Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-22


"What can't understand" q lit
tie girl said to me the other day,
"is how Santa Claus can be in so
many different places at the same
time. Three girls in my class went
shopping yesterday. All three told
me today that they had seen Santa,
yet they all went to different de-
partment stores. They must have
seen him at about the same time,
too, because they all went down.
town right after school"
"And what you want to know is
which one saw the real Santa" I
asked.
eyes," the girl answered. THAT
and how he could be in all three
stores at the same time"
"Well, they all saw the real
Santa" I said. You see, he isn't
an ordinary man. In fact, he isn't
a man at all; he's spirit"
You mean-a ghost?"
mo, not a ghost. There are no
such things as ghosts. A spirit
is-well, God is a spirit. You've
never seen God, have your"
mo. but I understand about Him
being a spirit He's everywhere,
even though you can't see Him"
well, Santa is everywhere, too.
OF course, he isn't anything like
God, but he's spirit, just the same
"a happy, kindly spirit, who shows
himself everywhere during the
Christmas season. He can be right
here in this room, or down the
street, or even in another part of
the world, all at the same time. He
can be wherever he wants to be,
and he wants to be wherever people
want him to be-wherever people
have the real Christmas spirit"
The girl thought the matter over
for few moments. II can under
stand all that" she finally said.
ITS just like when I sit down in
my room and make believe I'm
somewhere else-you know, just sort
of day dreaming. Sometimes / pre-
tend I'm in OF, or in Wonderland,
and if I think real hard, it's al
most the same as if I were really
in one of those places. Only with
Santa, I guess he can be any place
at all without thinking very much
about it. Is that it?"
That's it, all right" I agreed.
Except that Santa has to be
wanted. He never goes where he
isn't wanted. When people allow
themselves to become mean and
selfish, when they stop thinking
about Santa, stop loving him and
wishing. for him to come-then he
doesn't come any more"
Its wonderful. isn't it?" she
laughed. II mean that he can 60
everywhere at the same time, just
by thinking-just by knowing that
he's wanted. But" the laugh
was replaced by puzzled frown-
why is it that he doesn't always
look exactly the same? I've seen
him twice this year, in two different
stores, and he looked at little differ
ent each time"
DO you always look exactly the
same?" For that matter. do you
always even feel the same?"
We'll, no, I don't" she admitted
slowly Some days I feel happy
and full of pep, and I guess look
the same way, and other days feel
and look altogether different"
Everybody does-Santa, perhaps,
more than anybody else, because,
you know, he's spirit He's some
thing like the air we breathe. It's
the same air all over the world, but
in some places it's cold and in others
hot, in some places dry, IN others
wet, in some places calm, in others
gusty. A spirit can appear in thou
sands, even millions, of places at the
same time and be a little different
in each place. AS matter of fact,
Santa Claus always looks the same,
because he is the same; it's the peo-
pie to whom he appears that are
different-because. as a spirit, he
naturally reflects some Of their
spirit, too"
"Gee!" the girl exclaimed, clap
ping her hands. wait till tell my
girl friends!"