Be that voice

A single voice started it all on a cold dark night in the midst of a battle.  It was a melody of hope and love sung in a foreign land.  It was quite literally the night before Christmas in a very dark volatile situation.

A German soldier began singing a Christmas carol.  And it triggered an impossible truce among those who were deemed enemies.  It comes close to my heart as my grandfather was one of those young men in those trenches, far from home, a century ago.

That historic day one hundred years ago on Christmas Day 1914 became known as the Christmas Truce of 1914.  One voice started it all.  It impacted everyone who heard him.  And the other soldiers in turn joined in singing.  A chorus of soldiers sang across the battlelines.  They eventually emerged from the trenches, exchanging gifts and conversation, and even playing soccer.  History shows that it impacted 100,000 soldiers from both sides of the war that day.  A deadly confrontation was transformed into a personal conversation.

This historic incident was the focus of Sainsbury's commercial for Christmas 2014.  Click here to watch a re-enactment of that day as portrayed in Sainsbury's commercial, a powerful statement of peace, as taken from the 2005 movie Joyeux Noel.

What are YOU singing?  

Bring His peace to your situation this Christmas.  See your time with friends and family-- and even those you don't particularly like -- as a conversation, not a confrontation.  See these precious moments as a rare opportunity to practice grace and bring the peace of Christ to an impossible place.  His peace is like no other.

Peace I leave with you;
My peace I give to you,
    not as the world gives
            do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled,
   neither let them be afraid.

            John 14.27

Be that voice of peace.