Peace on Earth

PEACE ON EARTH TO MEN OF GOOD WILL

Alfred Anderson died last November 21, 2005. He was 109 years old and at the time the oldest man in Scotland. But that is not all. He was also the last surviving soldier who experienced the spontaneous Christmas truce of World War I. That was December 25, 1914.

"I remember the silence, the eerie sound of silence," said Ander-son. "All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machine-gun fire and distant German voices. But there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted 'Merry Christmas,' even though nobody felt merry.”

British and German troops cautiously emerged from the trenches that Christmas Day in 1914. The enemies swapped cigarettes and tunic buttons, sang carols and even played soccer amid the mud, barbed wire and shell-holes of no man's land.

Why did this happen? Because the message of Christmas is peace. Christ is called the Prince of Peace. And on that first Christmas night, the choirs of angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest. And peace to his people on earth.”

What do we mean by peace? At home, is there peace if people shout at each other and hurt each other? In school, is there peace, if there is someone you avoid? In other words, there is peace when there is a good relationship.

Make your Christmas a happy one by establishing peace. First make peace with God by making a good confession. Second, make peace with people at home, in your community and in your workplace. Third, if you are already at peace with everyone, then become a channel of peace between enemies. Become an agent of reconciliation.