Silent Night

The European nations were ending the fifth month of the “Great War.” All along the Western Front, battles had morphed into trench warfare. No army seemed to have an advantage, and the air smelled of death.

Then suddenly, on December 24, 1914, everything changed. Soldiers on both sides seemed overwhelmed with thoughts of Christmas—what the birth of Jesus meant for them as individuals and as nations. Longing, even for a moment, to escape the horrors of war, local truces broke out spontaneously all along the front.

In one area, a German infantryman, Hugo Klemm, and his fellow soldiers chose two Christmas trees and began lighting candles. The sight made an unforgettable impression as lights illumined a world that seemed so hopeless.

Klemm later wrote, “At darkness we marched forward to the trenches…All was quiet. No shooting. Little snow. We placed our Christmas tree in our dugout…We placed a second lighted tree on the parapet.” Then they began to sing “Silent Night.”

The sound echoed across the fields, as the thoughts of the armies turned toward Jesus. Years later, one British soldier commented, “I shall never forget it. It was one of the highlights of my life.” The power of Christmas was so strong that these bitter enemies laid down their arms.

Today, you may be experiencing conflict and turmoil. But God sent His Son to be the Prince of Peace, for you, right now.

Allow God to speak to you. Ponder the words of this wonderful song: “Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and Child. Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace.”