Dear Friends,

 

We are in the midst of our Advent mid-week worship series entitled, “Calm and Bright: Celebrating 200 Years of Silent Night.” All are invited to join us for worship on Wednesdays in Advent at 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel for a half-hour quiet worship service. Come early at 5:00 p.m. for supper.

 

Here is my first reflection of the series based on the scriptures, Micah 4:1-5 and Micah 5:2-5a.

 

“Heavenly Peace”

 

The year was 1914 and soldiers on both sides of the battlefield somewhere in France were enduring a dark and frozen Christmas Eve night. World War I – the Great War, as it was called – eventually took the lives of more than 10 million people. But without a doubt the young men on that Christmas Eve were contemplating much more beyond their longings for home and warmth and family. When soldiers on the German line placed candles on small Christmas trees and raised them above their trenches it touched the hearts of their enemies. These men – thousands of them on both sides – spontaneously began to sing the carols of Christmas. What began in those moments became the legendary Christmas truce. Weapons were put down, men ventured from their fortifications and gathered in No Man’s Land to make note of the season together. They exchanged small gifts after agreeing to a truce so that all could celebrate the season. And so for a short period of time, no shots were fired. The following day, men who only hours before fought fiercely now stood side by side and buried their dead. Together, with heads uncovered, they held a service to memorialize their fallen comrades. Before departing for another frozen night in the trenches, a solitary voice began to sing Silent Night, in French. He was joined by another voice – this one singing in German – the words of a hymn known and beloved by all. Together they contemplated ‘heavenly peace’. –From ‘The True Story of Silent Night’ by B. Francis Morlan