A Letter to Santa About Love and Stuff

Don't bring me toys and riches and tangible tricks that are dangled to entice me into false happiness. Give me love. Wrap me up, let me bestow it upon my family and feel it from all directions. The miracle. The baby. The force-field we draw around our festive joy. It lasts forever if we let it, all it has to do is climb right in. The glow from this house, from this room, as seen by outside must be stunning, swamping the early evening sky. The daylight is leaving us, we are settling in to a special night together. Yes, there were many presents, but I know if you took them away the shared happiness would mean it was the best Christmas of them all. This is what it is all about.

So, dear Santa, whatever people believe, whatever you are meant to symbolise, which essentially should just be the spreading of joy and love, all I ask is for people to appreciate each other. For love to take over, as the abiding supreme force on earth. We truly could light the darkest of paths with a little tenderness and thought and commitment to a worthwhile cause. Love over war, as ever it should be. The babies, the kids, all the way up to the oldies, all with hearts pumping inside chests. God bless everyone, on this beautiful day, and beyond.