Parish Missions

Let There Be Peace

It is cold and clear on Christmas Eve night in 1914. Thomas

Tolliver and his fellow British soldiers are holed up in muddy

trenches along the Western Front. Just across a field known

as "No Man's Land," their enemies, German soldiers, lie in wait.

Suddenly a strange sound pierces the darkness. Someone

is singing a Christmas carol in German. Other German voices

join in. When the song ends, Thomas and the other British

soldiers sing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Soon carols are

sung back and forth across No Man's Land. Then a figure

emerges in the dark, carrying a small Christmas tree with lighted

candles.

Slowly the British and German soldiers leave their trenches--

and the war--behind to stand together in the open field.

The following morning, Christmas was celebrated in full, with

men visiting across the lines and gifts of food and tobacco being

exchanged. In several places, games of soccer were organized.

This familiar story known as the “Christmas Truce” was adapted by award-winning songwriter/author John McCutcheon from his song of the same name.

I would suspect that this story seems wholly improbable in the context of the rancor and ill-will present in our world this Christmas. The litany of hostilities that might be cataloged today would be too depressing for such a peace-promising celebration. Suffice it to say that what those troops sought on that Christmas Eve is what we all yearn for right now.

Each of those soldiers on the European battlefield put aside his weapon of destruction to hold on to something more powerful. Their actions gave testimony to their belief that the human enterprise in fact demanded peace. Their action acknowledged that war was essentially inhuman and that all those elements that lead us to war are not worthy of those who were created in the image and likeness of God.

The question for us today is who will be the first to lay down arms for the sake of peace? You and I have little or no control over the theaters of war or the corridors of power, but we do have control over our own attitudes and behaviors.

For us today it means that all of us in our own way have to recommit ourselves to the ways of peace in our own daily lives.

We start with those people and situations closest to us. We know all too well the weapons that bring discord into our relationships. Will we put jealousy, mistrust, and control aside for the sake of peace? Issues of political and religious dispute can exist without being wielded as weapons to demonize others. Are we willing to renounce the weapon of animus in order to embrace the civility we claim is missing from our public discourse? In a world that grows increasingly smaller, national, cultural and religious differences are thrown into stark relief. Are we willing to put aside the weapons of distrust and prejudice that stifle the essential unity of the human family?

This feast of Christmas centers on the birth of a Savior. But why he came to save is at least as important as the event itself. Our God became one like us to give divine testimony of our potential to be God-like. The babe of Bethlehem is called the Prince of Peace for a very good reason. Peace is God’s plan for the human family. The one song that is not part of the traditional Christmas repertoire has the most meaning for a world that so often resembles a battlefield. It wasn’t sung by those opposing armies that Christmas Eve long ago, but what they did then is what that song is all about. It should be on our lips today and everyday:

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our father

Family all are we.

Let us walk with each other

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment

And live each moment

With peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth,

And let it begin with me.