Evening star., 1948-12-19

This column, frst pIoHSheG
December II, 1899. has been re-
printed nearly every year since
then at the suggestion OF readers.
Parents, teachers and Others
hare said they regard 1t as fine
erplanation OF the true Christ
mas Spirit.)
"What can't understand" q
little girl said to me the other day,
lis how Santa Claus can be in 50
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,
vet they all went in different de-
partment stores. They must have
seen him at about the same time,
too, because they all went down.
town fight after school,"
"And what you want to know 1s
which one saw the real Santa?"
asked.
eyes" the girl answered. That
and how he could be in all three
stores at the same time"
Santa Is spirit.
"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?"
"No, not a ghost. There are no
such things as ghosts. A spirit is
we'll, God is spirit. You've never
seen God, have you?"
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"
Has to Be Wanted.
The girl thought the matter over
for few moments. IT 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 almost
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
Why He Looks Different.
"It's wonderful. isn't it?" she
laughed. II mean that he can go
everywhere at the same time, just
by thinking-just by knowing that
he's wanted. But'-the laugh was
replaced by a 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 q little differ
ent each time"
do you always look exactly the
same? For that matter, do you
always even feel the same2"
We'll, no, don't" she admitted
slowly. Some days I feel happy
and full of pep, and guess I 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 a 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 little diff
ferent in each place. AS q matter
Of fact, Santa Claus always looks
the same, because he Is the same;
it's the people to whom he appears
that are different. II he sometimes
seems different, It's because, as o
spirit, he naturally reflects some Of
their spirit. too"
"Gee!" the girl exclaimed, clap
ping her hands. wait till tell my
girl friends!"
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