Door County Spiced Gingerbread Latte Coffee was my morning treat and a cup of the same brew in decaffeinated might send me off to be later tonight. It has been a busy day with Dr's appointments and physical therapy. My writing needed to wait until tonight.
A lot of people have favorite things to read at Christmas, such as "The Night Before Christmas" or account of the birth of Jesus. I always read the birth story. But I have one more that I like to read. It reminds me that differences can be set aside and that humans actually desire to do good. Peace does have a chance. This account is taken from the History Channel.
On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man’s land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers’ threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.
During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destroy the Christmas spirit.
One, needs to have hope, without hope, there is no love, where there is no love, there is no hope.
Psalm 147:11New International Version (NIV)
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love
who put their hope in his unfailing love
Put hope for peace on your Christmas prayer list. However short lived it might be, it is worth the prayer time.
Marty
Marty
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