Posted on 12/23/2016 4:41:20 PM PST by jazusamo
Judicial Watch Christmas Message 2016
Christmas 2016 finds us in many ways a divided nation.
We have just come through an unusually contentious election. And, in fact, many consider the past eight years to have been some of the most divisive in American history.
So, at a time like this, it may be best to step back from the events and issues that divide us and focus our hearts and minds on the uncommon bonds that unite us.
As we do, I am reminded of one of my favorite stories from Christmas past A story that proves anew that the essential message of Christmas Hail the newborn Prince of Peace remains today as powerful as it is poignant, as timely as it is timeless. Its the tale of a truce a brief, fleeting truce that turned a World War I field of fire into a pageant of peace. As Time magazine reported it several years ago:
On a crisp, clear morning 100 years ago, thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas mingling with their German enemies along the Western front.
*** Most accounts suggest the truce began with carol singing from the trenches onChristmas Eve, a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere, as Pvt. Albert Moren of the Second Queens Regimentrecalled, in a document later rounded up by theNew York Times. Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade described it in even greater detail:
First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up O Come, All Ye Faithful the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.
The next morning, in some places, German soldiers emerged from their trenches, calling out Merry Christmas in English. Allied soldiers came out warily to greet them. In others, Germans held up signs reading You no shoot, we no shoot. Over the course of the day, troops exchanged gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons and hats. The Christmas truce also allowed both sides to finally bury their dead comrades, whose bodies had lain for weeks on no mans land, the ground between opposing trenches.
I believe you will agree that there is a lesson to be learned there an enduring lesson that transcends the temporal and, especially at this time of year, elevates us above the trials and traumas that so often beset us. It is the Christmas message of Peace on earth, that caused the bloodied and battered Allied and German soldiers to lay aside their enmity and arms and sing in exultation joyful and triumphant.
Truly, as Rifleman Graham Williams wrote, the spirit of Christmas is really a most extraordinary thing. And as I have said in each of the past several years, there is one particularly extraordinary Christmas message that should give us indomitable courage even in these troubling times. Its from Isaiah 9:6, and it defines the hope that lies within us all: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders.
Ultimately, mans power is limited on this Earth, contrary to what some politicians and their antecedents might try to tell you. And even in the most dire of times, we rest secure in the words of one of my favorite Christmas carols, the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
Merry Christmas to you and yours from all of us here at Judicial Watch, and a Happy New Year.
Tom Fitton
Off the Wall Ping!
Contact to be added.
Tom Fitton rocked it. I was always enchanted by that story ~ Merry Christmas to each and every one...
I have noticed a lot more people using “Merry Christmas” when out and about. It’s awesome.
Merry Christmas to you jazusamo! I noticed that I signed onto FR 14 years ago today.
And I hope everyone has a Blessed & merry Christmas.
See you all next year, 1 po (post obama).
Merry Christmas and Happy FR Anniversary, my FRiend!
Beautiful post Jaz... Here’s a poem you might enjoy from the same time period - - and Merry Christmas to you and yours
The Man He Killed
“Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
“But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
“I shot him dead because
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That’s clear enough; although
“He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,
Off-hand like just as I
Was out of work had sold his traps
No other reason why.
“Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.”
By Thomas Hardy
Thank you for Thomas Hardy’s poem, my FRiend.
It’s thought provoking as well as sad, he portrays war at its very basics.
Merry Christmas to All and to All a good holiday weekend!
CGato
That made me tear up...and I’m one of those women who RARELY cries.
Merry Christmas to You & Yours - G-d Bless Us, Every One!
Merry Christmas, Jaz! Santa’s on his way to us!
Apparently, I’m STILL a SIX-YEAR-OLD, trapped in a 56 year old body, LOL!
Happy New Year! And, seriously?!?! We’re ringing in The New Year RIGHT for once in a VERY long time!
Best. Election. Ever. EVER! :)
I’m happy you enjoyed the poem... and sadden you understood it so deeply. Merry Christmas Diana to you and yours.
I sincerely hope the two of you and yours and all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.
We surely are ringing in The New Year right with our new President-elect Donald Trump, better times are ahead!
God bless.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.