REASON<\/p>\n
The heart has its reasons
\nOf which reason knows nothing.
\nBlaise Pascal<\/p>\n
A member of the Taliban scrawled \u201cThrow reason to the dogs\u201d on the walls of the Ministry of Justice in Kabul. I get that.<\/p>\n
All too often, reason keeps us from listening to our hearts.\u00a0 I think the beauty of life lies in the myths we create.\u00a0 Take Santa Claus.\u00a0 Everyone KNOWS he is a fictional character we created in the nineteenth century to whip children into shape and convince them that obeying us would give them marvelous rewards.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t take huge intelligence to figure out that if Santa were as big, fat and jolly as everyone says he is, he couldn\u2019t possibly fit into a chimney much less a standard front door what with that sleigh he drags behind him and all those reindeer defecating in the snow. (And you KNOW that\u2019s what they must do if they nibble on the cakes and cookies Mrs. Santa gives them) \u00a0A child of four could figure out that Santa could not possibly read all the letters children send him and actually decide who gets what on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n
And what about all those clones we see on the street, at parties and ringing bells to make us give them money?\u00a0 How did Santa manage that?\u00a0 Did he form some kind of club with admission requirements (weight, girth, long white beard; jolly laugh required).<\/p>\n
The truth is that reason would erase Santa Claus and I think that would constitute a criminal offense against childhood.\u00a0 Way back in 1897, Virginia O\u2019Hanlon wrote the editor of the New York Sun because her common sense told her that St Nicholas was a fraud\u2026a tool to force a little girl like her toe the line.\u00a0 This is what the editor said: \u201cYes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but I would hate to think my world was governed by logic and common sense.\u00a0 I would not like a reality without the certainty that there is good karma, the power of love and the faith that life has a noble purpose.<\/p>\n
Besides, where would I send my Christmas want list?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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