IMF visits North Pole: Santa Asks Children for Help

I received an urgent phone call on Tuesday from our chief editor, who said: “You’d better hurry over to the office – you have a very merry guest waiting to speak to you.”
Upon arriving at the front door, I could have sworn I heard sleigh bells coming from the roof. I definitely heard a burst of laughter and a "ho ho ho" or two bellowing from my office while making my way up the stairs…
I opened the door, and there he was in all his splendour: Santa Claus!

“Good day, Martin,” he laughed, “I hear you've been a good reporter this year, so I have a little scoop for you!” It turned out that Santa was in Ireland on some urgent business. He was recently paid a visit at the North Pole from the fairies at the Intergalactic Magic-dust Fund, who had some worrying news for Santa and his helpers. Santa explained that magic-dust is created when people do good deeds for one another, and unfortunately, this year there is a shortage.

Santa said that, “normally in Ireland, there is a lot of magic dust created this time of the year. However, this Christmas there is a little bit less, so I'm here to find out why.”

“Normally there is a lot of Christmas spirit and goodwill in December,” said Santa. “We looked at the magic-dust-ometer and myself and Mrs Claus reckoned it must be broken because magic dust supplies were falling rapidly; usually we get a boost from Ireland and it hasn't come yet … I decided to come myself to see what the reasons are, and how we can fix them.”

Santa said he thinks if people all around the world (and not just in Ireland) are a bit kinder to each other, and if they focus more on giving this Christmas rather than thinking of what they are going to receive, then everything will be fine.

Santa then told me what his verdict was “You need to regain your Christmas spirit.”

I wasn't sure what that meant, so he explained further: “The Christmas spirit of what you can do for others, rather than what they can do for you.”
“I want to get this message to all children and folks across the world; it's imperative,” said Santa. “That's why I'm speaking to The Epoch Times." Santa was referring to the fact that The Epoch Times is published in 17 languages in 33 countries across the globe.

How the dust ran out

When Santa and his helpers are not delivering the presents, they spend most of the year making them; that's what they focus on most of the time. A few months ago, someone from the Intergalactic Magic-dust Fund (IMF) paid him a visit and said, “Santa, there's just not enough magic-dust to go around this year.”

Santa did not panic. He put a team of elves together to find out why, and they deduced that people are just a bit down in themselves this year. “We need the children to help us out this year,” said Santa.

Each present takes a certain amount of magic dust to produce. Santa then suggested that perhaps children could help him in two ways. Firstly, they could help by generating more magic dust, in the form of doing good deeds for others; and secondly, they could also help by asking for just a little bit less this year. “Don't worry, everyone can get at least one gift,” ho ho ho-ed Santa.

What can children do to help

“Well there're lots of things they can do, one is they can help their elderly neighbours and relatives by making sure they are fine. Perhaps they can do some shopping or clean their paths of snow,” suggested Santa. “This time of the year is especially cold, so goodwill will generate twice as much magic dust,” smiled Santa. Don't forget to help your parents too, “and that includes you too Martin,” he winked.

“You see, you generate magic dust by giving or helping others, so the most important thing children can do is to ask for less for themselves, and to give to and to help others: that's the Christmas spirit, and that's what generates the most magic dust,” said Santa, as the office started to glow.

“The gifts over the last few years have been brilliant, and we have had lots of fun making them – great little electronic gadgets, all stupendous fun to play with. The only problem is that these gifts take much more magic dust to make, and as I said earlier magic-dust supplies are down, and we have been warned not to spend what we don't have,” said Santa, remaining cheerful.

“So let’s make sure that everyone has a great Christmas by getting back into the spirit.”  I asked Santa if this meant that some of the elves would lose their jobs. “Don't be ridiculous!” laughed Santa. He said they will be working even harder, as they have less magic-dust to help. "All this extra work may take its toll on them," sighed Santa. “The elves usually retire at 500, but now they may have to retire earlier. Which will disappoint them greatly!”

Santa was, however, certain that if magic dust supplies increased before Christmas, they would be able to relax a bit and would not have to retire before 500. “I think if the children help by doing lots of good deeds this Christmas, then the elves will probably be able to push back their retirement age, and keep doing what they love most: making Christmas toys.”

Just before he left the office, Santa said: “You know what I like best about Christmas? The Christmas spirit, the nature of giving and I hope that, by my coming to talk to The Epoch Times and getting the message out, that this year for everybody will be about what you give, and not what you get. It won't be about flashy toys, but about making a difference to someone else.”