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Christmas on the Western Front, 1914 It was Christmas 1914 and the
war was very young. More than 800,000 had been killed, and it looked as if
Christmas would be just another day of killing among Christians on the
front. A British soldier on guard duty thought he heard a familiar song in
the cold dark night as he crawled through the trenches: “Stille
Nacht, heilige Nacht.” He began to sing back, “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
As he passed by, another joined him and another until there was a chorus
on their side of the trench. Then the German soldiers started with another
song, “O Tannenbaum,” and
the English replied with “Hark the
Herald Angels Sing.” Back and forth across the trenches they sang
carols to each other. Then signs were hastily scribbled in German and
English, “Merry Christmas.” And
then it happened. The war stopped! First one brave and tired soldier
crawled across the barbed wired space, the field of war and death, which
separated the armies. He brought some sardines. Soon more soldiers left
their weapons and crawled out into the space, exchanging bottles of wine,
chocolate, cookies and packages from home. They shared pictures of
families, wives and children. The officers on both sides were stunned but
could do nothing. All night it continued. Some even played cards and
soccer, laughing and singing, until the dawn of another day. Finally, the
officers prevailed, summoning their men back to their side of the front
and before Christmas Day ended, the war had resumed. The Prince of Peace
prevailed only one night! In this well known historical
event, there dawns a growing sense that the joy of this feast, so
wonderfully manifested and displayed in the gift of one brave soldier’s
stance, his decision to cross over the field of war, was eventually
snuffed-out by an unarticulated fear of the risk of peace, of seeing the
humanity of the one with whom we were at war! This Christmas we will
exchange gifts, rejoice in the glee of children, visit family and friends,
tell funny stories, sit down to a sumptuous meal, laughing, singing and
dancing, all good, holy, joy filled and so human! All reflect the now
timeless gift of the Incarnation. Christmas
isn’t just one night or day. It
is eternal: God’s transcendent loving stance and gift of peace to
each of us! A gift we in turn are empowered to exchange with or display to
our families, friends, even enemies, but especially with those whom we
loved but now sense war. The Incarnation is
unconditional love: God meets us as
we are, where we are: in
our joys and sorrow, laughter and tears, calm and anxiety, courage and
fear, love and apathy or hate, humility and pride, or our sanctity and
sin. In the Incarnation we do not relinquish our humanity, that is who we
really are in God. Rather, we embrace our humanity in God’s Peace,
Jesus, who through the Spirit cleanses us of sin and offers us sanctity.
An offer we may accept or reject. The birth of Jesus sends us, reborn into
our world to cross the field of war and continue the saving pattern of
peace. Jesus, the Son of God entered the world with peace not war,
revealed as a newborn babe, a criminal on the cross without weapons,
devoid of displays of arrogant power. The
only power, might or weapon God chooses to display is love.
This is the power and might God gives us to display through Christ
and in the Holy Spirit. This Christmas is the moment to embrace this
graced power, the stance of peace, crossing the field of war, dropping the
fear of risking the sight of our enemies’ humanity. The embrace of this stance of
peace, crossing the field of war is frightening. We may fear risking this
type of love. We may fear the
Incarnation. Yet Christmas is the celebration and affirmation of the
timeless love of God, God’s risk,
manifested in the Incarnation. Our Spirit-led, freely chosen affirmation
of this risky love makes our faith so real, and so worldly! There is a
tendency to keep faith or religion on the level of a nod to socially
accepted conventions. There is the temptation to desire the spiritual
without the fleshly, the cosmic without the concrete, the contemplative
without the active. If God’s Risk, the Word, Jesus is ever to be loved,
known and shared, we must risk crossing the field of war, dropping the
fear that may rage within and among us. This is Christmas faith,
Incarnation faith, it is concrete and ordinary because it is imbedded in
the depths of our human experience. There we meet the extraordinary,
Jesus, the Incarnate God, who is both perfectly hidden and perfectly
displayed as the power and might of the Father’s unconditional, eternal
love. God’s risk in sending Jesus, as the stance of peace, the complete
reconciliation of you and me with the Divine, frees us from fear and rage
and through the Holy Spirit energizes us to see the humanity of the one
with whom we are at war. Thus, in our freedom and with honesty, we are
empowered to display the only weapon God chooses to use, LOVE!
This love is with us now, in this present moment and will continue to be
with us in eternity. We would love to hear from you. If you would like to share your thoughts on this article or topic, please send an email to religious@stshrine.org |