This is a re-post of a letter from Santa I received last year. It seems even more appropriate this year than last.
To All of My Children
Every year I receive millions of letters from boys and girls around the world. These letters are simple and endearing, although I’ve seen more and more of them saying only “give me” this and that. I also get letters from parents who ask for help because they are unable to provide their children with gifts, or a home or food or safety. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century I get these letters. They make me very sad at the time when we should be joyous.
In the last 450 years or so, the time that I have been Santa, I have written letters back, when someone needed my counseling. But this year is the first time when I feel it necessary to write a letter to all of you; Humanity.
My dear children, young and old. I’ve watched you grow up generation after generation. I’ve seen you when you were small, squirming things with that baby smell that tells adults that you are special and need love and comfort. I’ve watched you take your first steps, speak your first words, go to school, fall in love, have little helpless things or your own, and raise them. I’ve watched you age become frail and die. I have celebrated your birth and mourned your passing.
I understand that you think of me as a myth and that I’m only for the little ones who have not learned much of the world. But, I’m more than a logo or a seasonal decoration. I’m the spirit of Peace and Good Will, a reminder of your better nature. My spirit is intended to be shared year-round.
For all these centuries, I’ve seen your good. You have done wondrous things, cured horrible disease like smallpox and polio. You have discovered art and writing, music and dancing. You have learned how to cooperate with each other and do great things. You have created religion and science to help you explain the world. You have done so much good.
And yet, you have been equally bad. You’ve discovered the addictions of war, greed, and domination. You have learned how to lie and steal. You have forgotten that you are one great family and are willfully cruel. You have turned the greatest gift of all, your home, Earth, into an open sewer. You can do such bad things, sometimes thoughtlessly, sometimes with intent.
Even though I’m an Elf, I’ve considered all of you my children, no
matter your age. So, it causes me great pain to see you fight and abuse
each other. I feel an even greater sorrow as you turn your cruelty
towards Earth and her other children.
I’ve sat you on my knee, told you stories, flown through arctic gales to give you dreams and wishes.
But now, you have lost your way. You have become a danger to yourselves and every other living thing.
You are destroying my home and killing my friends the polar bears, seals, walrus and wolves. Around the world, you kill and abuse each other, turning children and the poor into slaves for pleasure or work. You do these terrible things because as you’ve grown up and you have forgotten the simple rules of life:
Share what you have. All those toys in the box are for everyone. You’ll all get a chance to enjoy them. Remember, that there is plenty when you share. There is little when you hoard.
Do not waste what you have, respect it. Earth is our small fragile home. It’s a spaceship traveling through our immense universe. The air, water, and earth, and climate are our life support systems. If we destroy them, our wondrous voyage will end and the gifts of knowledge and wisdom will be lost.
Don’t pick on your little brothers and sisters. They want to love you, if you let them. You can love them too, if you let yourself. Everyone is a big brother or sister to someone and have the awesome responsibility to help raise and protect them. It is one of the most noble things you can do. When you do, you become the spirit of Peace and Goodwill.
Always tell the truth. Your honesty allows people to trust you. From trust comes respect and love. Trust is a special bond that takes deeds and time to build. It only takes one betrayal, lie or cheat to destroy what has taken so much to build.
Play nice and no hitting or threatening or calling each other names. Violence solves nothing, it destroys goodwill and trust, leaving you alone. Remember violence is like a disease. Once started, it spreads and guarantees more violence.
There is so much more I can say, but you get my point.
Right now, my children, you are having a hard time and things look bleak. Peace and Goodwill may seem far away, impossible even. But that is an illusion. Each one of you holds the spirit to be Santa. Regardless of your faith, political party, where you live, whether you’re rich or poor, or whatever you think divides you from others, you can become the gift of Peace and Goodwill.
You can do so much good. Simply remember, Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All.
Until next year,
Santa