Last night, I gathered my little boys and we read
Christmas in the Trenches--the story of German and British soldiers in WWI singing carols to each other across the battlefield, and eventually calling a truce for the night so that they could celebrate the Savior's birth together. If only for one night, these young men were friends. This story jabs me in the softest place in my heart--the one that is usually saved for newborn babies and tea sets; I had a lump in my throat for the entire book. But then my 10 year-old turned to me and, with his big brown innocent eyes, asked, "Mom, why does war have to tear our world apart?" And that is when
mom fell apart. I didn't have a reasonable response for him because war is rarely reasonable. However, we hugged and marveled at the spirit of Christmas that can make hard things soft, that can make battlefields quiet, and that can make enemies friends. It is a beautiful truth wrapped in a beautiful book. Good reads to you all . . .
I love that story and I believe there was a French movie made about it. That story always gets to me also, and what a wonderful experience you had reading it to your son. I read Truman Capote's "A Christmas Carol" to my daughters when they were young, and that story still makes me cry. I loved your Dickens' decorations in an earlier post and I am so happy to discover your wonderful blog! Happy week before Christmas!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I meant Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"!
ReplyDeleteThat was a very precious moment! The story reminded me of the first scenes in the movie "White Christmas" :)This sounds like a great story :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
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