“Conflict?  Ask Ken”:  In Times of War, is Peace Possible?

Orginally published on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 6:00 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Dearest Mother, Just returned… after the most extra?ordinary [day] in the trenches you could possibly imagine. Words fail me completely in trying to describe it, but here it goes.  So began an amazing letter by British soldier Captain Sir Edward Hulse in the midst of World War I. It received wide circulation both in England and in the U.S.  Here’s the essence of what he wrote.  It was on a Wednesday when the captain and his troops were ordered to the front line against German troops. The exchange of fire between the warring armies was intense.  Early Friday morning, however, the shooting by the Germans began to subside. By 8:00 a.m., they were not firing at all. Then at 8:30 Captain Hulse was startled by an unexpected sight. Four unarmed Germans left their protected positions and began walking toward the British side. Unsure of their intentions and not wanting them to get too close, the captain and one of his men headed out to meet them. Weapons from both sides were pointed at them…

As the men huddled together, Captain Hulse questioned their purpose. "What orders do you have from your officers?" "None," the Germans replied. They explained why they ceased firing and then said that unless ordered otherwise, they were going to withhold their fire.

After 30 minutes, the English party escorted the Germans back to their line of barbed wire. They parted after a friendly exchange of British cigarettes and German cigars. Then Captain Hulse immediately went to headquarters to report the incident.

Returning at 10 am, he couldn't believe his eyes. In the open space between the two armies, "I saw, to my amazement, not only a crowd of about 150 British and Germans... [in front of] my lines, but six or seven such crowds, all the way down... extending toward the 8th Division on our right." The only thing left in the trenches were the weapons.

Stunned, Hulse observed the soldiers "were fraternizing in the most genuine possible manner. Every sort of souvenir was exchanged... photos of families shown, etc." The captain noted, "it was absolutely astounding, and if I had seen it on... film I [w]ould have sworn that it was faked!"

During this lull in hostilities, an agreement for the care of the dead was reached. Soldiers who had been killed near the opposing side were carried out to the half­way line where they were honored and buried. Personal effects of the dead were exchanged. And so it went all day.

The Rest of the Story

In recounting Captain Hulse's letter, one im­portant detail was dele­ted. What wasn't said was that the events described took place on December 25. What Captain Hulse actually referred to in his opening sentence to his mother was not a "most extra­ordinary day," but rather, a "most extraordinary Christmas."

When the four Germans came out from their trenches it wasn't because of any cowardliness on their parts. It was because of the birth of Jesus Christ. They wanted to wish their British counterparts a Merry Christmas. In turn, a British soldier said, "It's only right that we should show that we could desist from hostilities on a day which is so important in both countries." A commitment to something greater (or more accurately, Someone greater) was at work here. For this reason, the sounds of war were stilled and the voices of goodwill emerged that day among soldiers who were otherwise locked in a struggle of life and death.

Devotional Thought

We live in an often hostile and violent world. Captain Hulse himself was killed in action in France at age 25, two and a half months after he wrote his letter. Yet the message of Christmas is still one of peace. Like a powerful magnet that draws particles to itself as well as together, so Jesus not only attracts us to God, but also unites us to one another.

This was, in fact, the essence of the angel's message the night Jesus was born: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. What this means is that there is no heart which cannot be softened, no marriage which cannot be restored, no division which cannot be bridged through a spirit of unity centered around Bethlehem's babe. Those who bow down before Him, like the soldiers of WWI, will find, when they arise, a unity among them that they had previously thought impossible.

May the peace that Israel’s Messiah brings to those who conform their will to His be yours, your family's, and your church’s this Christmas season!

With warmest wishes,

Ken Newberger

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