Remembering War

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Malachi 2:10 KJV

The good news is that in spite of the machinations of the powers that be, sometimes men remember their common brotherhood, and don't deal so treacherously with each other. One such time was during the Great War in 1914. In December, appeals had been made by several groups including the Vatican “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” Among the various governments, these appeals fell on deaf ears.

However, something almost unprecedented in the annals of military history was about to happen. Accounts of this event begin with stories of the German soldiers decorating their trenches with candles and Christmas trees on Christmas Eve. The guns fell silent. Then began the singing. The singing of Christmas carols. These spontaneous songs of desperate men ascended as it were to heaven and rang out across the battlefield, and lo and behold the British troops responded with carols of their own. No oath of fealty to king, ruler or country was to trump this spontaneous manifestation of brotherly kindness. Later, Christmas greetings were shouted out across the battle lines, and the soldiers arose from their trenches to exchange small gifts with the enemy. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 soldiers participated in this first unofficial cessation of hostilities. In some sectors of the battlefield the Christmas truce continued until New Years Day.

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada; Veteran's Day in the United States. When I think of war, I pray, “never again” and remember this spontaneous manifestation of peace.