Advent day 14 - Kathryn J Bain

SAME STORY, DIFFERENT QUESTION

By

Kathryn J. Bain

First having appeared in The New York Sun in 1897, “Yes Virginia, There is as Santa Claus,” by Frank P. Church has become one of the most famous editorials ever written. But what if Virginia O’Hanlon sent that letter into a conservative newspaper today, and instead of asking about Santa had asked a different question?

Dear Editor,

I am 8 years old. Some of my friends say there was no Christ child. My dad says, “Whether you feel Him in your heart or not, He was so.” Please tell me the truth. Is Jesus real, and was he born in a manger?

Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe something unless they see it. Unless they can comprehend it with their small minds, they do not believe. All minds, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe, man is a mere insect, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him.

Yes, Virginia, Jesus does exist just as love and generosity and devotion exist. You know they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

And yes, Jesus was born in a manger. How dreary would the world be if there had been no Christ child born among the animals? There would be no such thing as faith or grace to make this existence tolerable. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The internal light of faith would be extinguished.

Not believe in Jesus Christ! You might get your father to hire men to try to watch for Jesus, but if no one saw him, what would that prove? Not everyone sees Jesus, but you can feel Him. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see oxygen floating in the air? Of course not, but that’s no proof that it is not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the unseen wonders in the world. Just because you can’t see Him doesn’t mean the Christ child did not exist, and thus Jesus does not exist today.

Only faith can push aside that curtain of doubt people have so we may view and understand the superb beauty and glory that is Jesus Christ. Is He real? Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else more real.

No Christ child! Thank God! Jesus lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, no 10 times 10,000 years from now, He will continue to make glad the heart of man.

THE END

Kathryn's Novel Breathless, a Harbourlight book, comes out Jan 13th 2012

BLURB:

Lydia Frederickson is afraid to answer her telephone. Widowed and alone, she only wants to get through another anniversary of her husband’s death without falling to pieces, but a stalker isn’t making that goal easy. The disturbing calls are becoming increasingly personal and threatening, and everyone who knows her is suspect. The only person she knows isn’t making the calls is her new ponytailed, tattooed—and breathtakingly handsome— minister, Matthew Winters. Former-narcotics-agent-turned-minister Matthew Winters knows he’s not what the town expected in their new pastor, but he’s up for the challenge. What he doesn’t expect is the sudden attraction he feels for parishioner Lydia Frederickson. When he discovers she’s the victim of a stalker, he feels God’s intervention has led him—both a cop and a preacher—to her. Matthew knows he’s falling for the beautiful widow, but a secret from his past may undermine their future.

You can pre order it and read an excerpt here

BIO:

Kathryn J. Bain has been writing for over ten years now. She has two daughters, one a professional photographer, the other a student the University of West Florida. She is the President of Florida Sisters in Crime and the Public Relations Director for Ancient City Romance Authors. She enjoys critiquing for the new members of American Christian Fiction Writers. To survive and pay bills, she has been a paralegal for approximately twenty years and works for an attorney who specializes in guardianships, probate, and estate planning. She moved from Idaho to Jacksonville, Florida in 1983 and has lived in the sunshine since.

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