One hundred years ago, during the first Christmas of World War I, there was an unofficial cease fire. It has come to be known as the Christmas Truce of 1914. Witnesses remembered it as a time of humanity in the midst of unspeakable carnage and destruction. One soldier from Yorkshire England wrote home:
"It was a memorable Christmas Day in our trenches as we had a truce with the enemy from Christmas Eve till Boxing Day morning, not a shot being fired. The truce came about in this way. The Germans started singing and lighting candles... and one of them challenged any one of us to go across for a bottle of wine. One of our fellows accepted the challenge; that started the ball rolling. We then went half way to shake hands and exchange greetings with them. There were 10 dead Germans in a ditch in front of the trenches and we helped to bury these. I could have had a helmet but I did not fancy taking one off a corpse...The Germans seemed to be very nice chaps and said they were awfully sick of the war. We were out of the trenches all Christmas Day collecting souvenirs."
The Christmas Truce was a break in the war. Advent is a time to pause and reflect on the mystery of God being born in the flesh. It is hard to believe that God is present in our temporal world, especially as there are so many ungodly things that happen. It is true, "All people are grass, their consistency is like the flower of the field." But through our impermanence we will find comfort if we are attuned to God.
Like the prophet Isaiah, this soldier speaks of the temporal nature of our lives, and the calm within the chaos. For the soldier, the calm was a time to connect with others and be present to his humanity. For Isaiah, the calm is in accepting God as our shepherd. "...God will gather the lambs in God's arms, and carry them in God's bosom..."
But how do we find calm and peace when it seems so difficult to be present to God in our daily life as we rush from one activity to another? Life can often turn from simple distractions to a sense of being embattled. All the while, we leave little room for the eternal God in our lives.
I have really come to enjoy Advent because it helps me re-center my life and learn the ongoing process of being present to Christ. I take a deep breath, exhale, and surrender distractions, frustrations, or anything that keeps me from living at peace. In this way, the prophet Isaiah's proclamation has meaning. "Here is your God!"
Through God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we all be moved to surrender to the presence of Christ Jesus this Advent season.
Andrew Hains is a teacher and St. Paul member.
