By Daniel Garner
"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - John 3: 16 (KJV)
"The Soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the Soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war" - Douglas MacArthur
25 December 1914
"Stille nacht, Heilige nacht. Alles schlaft, einsam wacht".
Unfamiliar language drifted over the deeply frozen, hand-dug trenches to the waiting ears of the shivering Soldiers nestled there, its melody immediately blending with familiar memories of snowy nights in warm churches and it was then that the haunting lyrics struck home in the hearts of the lonely warriors:
"Silent night, Holy night. All is calm, all is bright".
Many of the Germans, spearheading the Central Powers, had lined their trenches with small, lit candles. This created the effect of a winding, sinuous and seemingly unending view of lights for kilometers in either direction. Now, a single light in that seemingly endless sea of terrestrial stars began to make its way towards the British and French lines. Alerts spread and orders were shouted as men mounted their positions and readied arms as the light encroached closer. A voice heard hundreds of times but never so close, shouted haltingly in broken English: "Merry Christmas! We not shoot. You not shoot".
The bearer of the candle manifested in full view of the hesitant Soldiers, arms outstretched. Before anyone could gather a thought, a young English private bounced from the relative safety of the trenches and joined his German counterpart in the No Man's Land between trenches. The deadliest of opponents now stood as equals, eye to eye with souls bared.
This scene played out time and again throughout the front lines, repeating numerous times as the spirit of peace found the Soldiers on the lines. Heralded as "The Christmas Truce" the act sent a shock wave throughout the front lines, disrupting the combat. Before the end of the unofficial truce, many entire units would need to be moved for refusal to fight against one another again.
Thousands of years before Soldiers met on the frozen battlefields of France, when God saw that we could not save ourselves, He sent Himself. On a cold and wintry night He was born into the world He was destined to save from itself. That act was not simply relegated to a select few with the right credentials and the correct answer to whether or not God actually minds if we wear hats indoors or not. It's everyone. Truly, and fully. The Creator of the universe became the created, and "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1: 14 ESV). The Almighty Himself became a baby, Omnipotence wrapped in rags upon the lap of a young woman within the veritable definition of dilapidation. Martin Luther said: "He whom the worlds could not enwrap yonder lies in Mary's lap".
Sometimes it's when everything around us makes the least sense that it all starts to come together. Deity in rags. Christmas during wartime. The King of the Universe asleep in a stable. Soldiers from both sides playing football and shaking hands in a war zone field where the day before only carnage had played.
Maybe you have one of those times?
Calm in a storm of failed jobs, peace after a rocky relationship or closure after a loss. Sometimes, it's during those times that God breaks through. Peace breaks out. The Lord instructed the angels to sing of Christ's birth to the shepherds in the field and He still instructs them to sing today. They continue to sing of the Good News of not only the birth of Christ but also His Resurrection and the peace that He has brought. That joy to the world, that peace to all men of goodwill.
This Christmas remember that no matter where you are in your life, what you're going through or having to endure, His peace is always available, always there. Even in war. Even in sorrow. No matter what.
There's a lullaby that I would sing years ago that is one of my favorite. It's called Ar Hyd Y Nos, and it's Welsh. It's also sang as a Christmas carol, and I still recite it or pray it sometimes to myself to remind myself of God's love and His promises. No matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing or going through.
The same can go for you, too.
"Sleep my love, and peace attend thee
All through the night;
Guardian angels God will lend thee,
All through the night,
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and vale in slumber steeping,
I my loving vigil keeping,
All through the night.
Angels watching ever round thee,
All through the night,
In thy slumbers close surround thee,
All through the night,
They should of all fears disarm thee,
No forebodings should alarm thee,
They will let no peril harm thee,
All through the night"