The Christmas Truce of 1914
If you love history like I love history, I highly recommend this resource:
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Last week I had the pleasure of listening to 13+ hours of the "Blueprint for Armageddon" series. The first four parts of the series cover the circumstances that led to World War I and its opening battles. Here are descriptions from the four parts:
*a Pandora's Box of violence engulfs the planet *millions of men in dozens of armies vie in the most deadly and complex opening moves of any conflict in world history *trench warfare begins, and with it, all the murderous efforts on both sides to overcome the static defenses *machine guns, barbed wire and millions of artillery shells create industrialized meat grinders at Verdun and the Somme
I have not invested much time studying the World Wars and was shocked at the destruction that we, civilized people in civilized countries, were willing to do to each other for some real estate or an ideology. The conditions that the soldier on the front endured are unimaginable for me. Harold Parry, a Brit Poet/Trench Soldier wrote:
"If these dignitaries could only be sat in the trenches for a wee short space, and made to carry heavy coils of wire for long distances up long communication trenches - blasted by the incessant force of the guns, I could guarantee that their war would not last longer than the time to fix up provisional peace terms."
Over the course of the war there were 37,000,000 casualties. That is roughly 37 times the population of San Antonio. 20,000,000 wounded and 17,000,000 killed. Among the dead, 7,000,000 civilians. Death and injury by cannons, automatic rifle fire, poison gas, malnutrition, and disease. Welcome to the civilized 20th century...or rather, welcome to hell on earth.
Towards the end of the first calendar year of the War there was a series of events that stood in stark contrast to the death and destruction of the first war in this new era of human history. In the early part of December 1914, Pope Benedict the XV begged for a truce between the fighting powers, asking, "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang." He was referring to the announcement of the angels to the shepherds on the hillsides 1900 years or so earlier:
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
And the angels were singing in response to the good news of the infant born in Bethlehem, a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.
This attempt by Pope Benedict XV was rejected by the Generals and War Mongers. Little did the Generals and War Mongers know that they were not the final authority. On Christmas Eve of 1914, the German soldiers decorated their trenches with candles and Christmas trees. The decorating was followed by the singing of Christmas Carols, most prominently "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht," or known to us as "Silent Night."
"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord at thy birth
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.
Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven above
Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born."
And the next thing you know, peace breaks out all up and down the front as the Germans leave their trenches and the Allied forces leave their trenches and they all gather in the space between called "No Man's Land." No Man's Land becomes Every Man's Land. Christmas Carols were sung, gifts exchanged, soccer played, and the dead buried. This became known as the Christmas Truce of 1914.
Peace erupts in the middle of war, in the season that we celebrate "the Word" becoming flesh and dwelling among us. I would say that God revealed himself during this hellish scenario.
Which leads me to this question:
If God can reveal himself in this, one of the most hellish inventions of man, can he reveal himself in any situation?
And if so, how?
