Imagine for a minute you are on the line somewhere in Europe on Christmas Eve, 1914. You’re a teenager, away from home for the first time. It’s cold and wet. Your meal today was some hardtack. There’s a little bit of it left in your pocket and you press your thumb against it to make sure it is still there.
It gets dark early. You are watching the line for anything. But, your mind is not on your work. You’re thinking about Christmas. Mom will be up early tomorrow making breakfast and fussing over every detail. Hardtack won’t be on her menu. Instead, there will be bacon and sausages bound up together in that casserole Mom always makes. Except, you won’t be there to enjoy it.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Although I hope that you’re not outside in a trench watching for enemy action, many of us are living out this holiday alone in a pandemic. It gives us some idea of what the those young men went through that night.
What do we have to look forward to?
The soldiers woke up that Christmas to something quite unexpected. The letters home about what happened are fascinating to read.
“Some of our people actually went in to their trenches and stayed for some time being entertained by the enemy! The Colonel and the Adjutant of the 107th Saxon Regiment came out and talked to our people in a very friendly manner. All joined together in a sing-song each side taking it in turns to sing a song and finally they ended up with God Save the King in which the Saxons sang most heartily.”
The National WWI Museum Extraordinary Scenes on Christmas Day
The men shared cigars and food, played games, and visited each other’s camps. One describes seeing a machine gun cart carrying barrels of beer.
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Christmas was not much of a holiday up until the Victorian era in Great Britain. Some Christian leaders thought there were too many remnants of Pagan holidays in Christmas and it was much less celebrated. The story of Ebeneezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” changed all that. Christmas became a story of redemption.
Redemption, noun. The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.
There is nothing we love more than a story of redemption. Redemption reminds us that there is a way forward. Redemption reminds us there is hope. Redemption is the light at the end of the tunnel. Redemption is a promise of a Christmas Yet To Come. Our redemption is coming in the form of a vaccine.
That’s the story of the Christmas Truce. It’s not just about a holiday. In fact, maybe it’s not about a holiday at all. Maybe it is something much bigger.
When that young soldier emerged from the trench after that cold night and witnessed the redemption of humanity, even for just that short time… just imagine how that felt. It was redeeming.
Merry Christmas.