From the Chaplain

Peace In War

On Thursday 25th April, in the holidays, many of us gathered and marched at various ANZAC Day Ceremonies; and then on the first Wednesday morning of term we gathered at our own ANZAC Service, marking the sacrificial service of so many then, and in the decades since, on our behalf.

During the holidays, though, I was also been reading (and watching) about what happened a few months earlier than Gallipoli, on the first Christmas of World War I.

Many of those who enlisted to fight when the War started in September 1914, told each other that it’d all be over very soon – that they’d be home for Christmas.

However, after just a few months, with a million soldiers already dead, that hope gave way to disillusionment.

Christmas was here, and they were still there on the front line. But then, on Christmas Eve, as the opposing German and English/French forces were huddled down in their trenches – in parts only 100 metres or so away from each other - a different sort of ‘battle’ broke out.

Not the exchange of gunfire or mortar or bombs: an exchange of singing.

The German troops began with a rendition of ‘Stille Nacht’ (‘Silent Night’).  English troops responded with a chorus of ‘The First Noel’.  German troops burst into ‘O Tannebaum’ (‘O Christmas Tree’).  And so it went on – until BOTH sides joined their voices in ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, in Latin.

The next day – Christmas Day – men who had been doing their best to kill each other, started leaving their trenches and walking towards their ‘enemies’ – with gifts. Possessions like tobacco & food were exchanged; family stories were swapped; precious photos were shown. Football/soccer games were played. Special Christmas Services were held.

This ‘cease-fire’ of Christmas, 1914 – was much more than just stopping the shooting – it was a recognition of something much more. As one of the German officers said, ‘How fantastically wonderful and strange that thanks to soccer and Christmas…deadly enemies briefly came together as friends!’  

The realisation of their shared identity as human beings mattered more – especially as they encountered one another face to face, not hiding behind a gun or a trench.

And this didn’t happen at just one place, either; but at many points up and down the front line.

As I watched the movie Joyeux Noel that depicts these events, I was reminded that for us today, though we’re not part of a global conflict such as World War I, people can easily create ‘enemies’ of our fellow human beings, often by ‘hiding’, not in trenches, but behind computer screens or online vitriol and lies.  Turning that around means seeing each person as we truly are - someone of value and worth, who reflects some of the character of our Creator God. It can be an important way of establishing the sort of peace and understanding of one another that was such a surprising joy for the soldiers on that Christmas 110 years ago.

Rev. Mark Rundle

Calrossy Chaplain

COMMUNITY PRAYER BREAKFAST TERM 2 – CHANGE OF DATE

Just a reminder that our Community Prayer Breakfast for Term 2, originally scheduled in the School Calendar for Friday 10th May, had to be moved to Friday 31st May.  It will be held in Room 108 on the Brisbane Street Campus, from 7.30am.