Simpson Column: Yes, Virginia, Christ exists

Every year many newspapers around the country reprint a letter to the editor written on September 21, 1897 to the New York Sun. The letter was titled "Is There a Santa Claus?" It was from a young girl named Virginia O'Hanlon who was being told by her friends that Santa didn't exist. The response was a reassurance by Francis Pharcellus Church that he did exist. (The original can be viewed on the Newseum Web site -- http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/)

Once copyrighted material expires and becomes part of the public domain, it can be reused and even modified by anyone wishing to use it. This is why there are so many versions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," originally penned in 1843. A couple of my favorite versions are "An American Christmas Carol" with Henry Winkler, and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" with Kermit the Frog and The Great Gonzo.

I thought -- with so many people being led astray or losing their faith altogether, it would be nice to provide them with the comfort that was given to Virginia in 1897. So I have taken the liberty to slightly modify the letter written by Virginia O'Hanlon.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Jesus. Papa says, "If you see it in THE SUN it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Jesus?" Signed, Questioning Faith in Virginia.

Dear Questioning Faith in Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with God, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Jesus. He exists as certainly as love and hope and devotion exist, and you know that He abounds and gives to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Jesus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no love, no hope to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Jesus! You might as well not believe in angels! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the churches on Christmas Eve to catch Jesus, but even if they did not see Jesus, what would that prove? Nobody sees Him, but that is no sign that there is no Jesus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see angels dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, hope, love can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory of God. Is He real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding.

No Jesus! Thankfully He lives, and He lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, He will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

This season we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is irrelevant that many people point to pagan rituals of the past that took place around this time of the year, nor is the actual date of Christ's birth important. What is important is that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and came to pay for our sins -- a debt we could never individually pay. Neither he, nor God, force anyone to believe. Regardless of what detractors have claimed, or the wrongful deeds of people who have called themselves Christians, Jesus does not condone using force for political, social or religious goals. Salvation is through grace alone, which is offered in exchange for simply accepting Christ as Savior and repenting our sins.

James Simpson wishes everyone -- believers and non-believers -- a very safe and Merry Christmas.