This is my standard Christmas post, but this year I thought I would do something different.  This year I thought I might pull a bernice, and post it on every single sight I am on, so that all my friends are forced to view it multiple times…you know, like wordle and twitter/X…

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger’. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men’.

I went to a private school as a child. It was small…the year I graduated there were only 54 students in the entire school…2 in my graduating class…myself, and Tommy Hicks.
The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades were all in the same classroom.
It was the homeroom of Mrs. Hopewell, our math teacher (we always called her the H-Bomb). She was a massive woman…not fat, mind you, but, tall…towering…big boned…almost masculine…and, good grief, was she intimidating! I don’t think there was a person in school who wasn’t terrified of her, and that included the teachers.
I can’t think back on those years without smiling every time I think about her…she loved Christmas….and she loved the song, Silent Night.
She would have us sing it at the end of the school day during the holidays. We would sing the first stanza, and then we would hum the next. She openly wept. It always amazed me that this giant, ‘hard’, feared woman would become mush at the sound of all those innocent voices…the gentle humming of that wonderful song. It, actually, brings a tear to my eye as I think about it now…

Silent Night
(Stille Nacht)

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

The origin of the Christmas carol we know as Silent Night was a poem that was written in 1816 by the Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr.

Throughout the world, “Silent Night”, which has been translated into more than 200 languages, is an anchor for Christmas celebrations. Its lullaby-like melody and simple message of heavenly peace can be heard from small town street corners in mid-America to magnificent cathedrals in Europe and from outdoor candlelight concerts in Australia to palm thatched huts in northern Peru.

The song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce of 1914, as it was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew. The event is depicted in the 1997 Garth Brooks song “Belleau Wood”.

“Belleau Wood”

Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence
Over Belleau Wood that night
For a Christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight

As we lay there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a German soldier singing
A song that we all knew

Though I did not know the language
The song was “Silent Night”

Then I heard my buddy whisper,
“All is calm and all is bright”

Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
‘Cause I’d die if I was wrong
But I stood up in my trench
And I began to sing along

Then across the frozen battlefield
Another’s voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn

Then I thought that I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the German soldier
‘Neath the falling flakes of white

And he raised his hand and smiled at me
As if he seemed to say
Here’s hoping we both live
To see us find a better way

Then the devil’s clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to hell again

But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven’s not beyond the clouds
It’s just beyond the fear

No, heaven’s not beyond the clouds
It’s for us to find it here

Silent Night is the most famous Christmas carol of all time, and it happens to be my all time favorite.

Please remember to pray for our troops, and their loved ones, this Holiday season, and throughout the year…May they come home soon.

Have a safe and happy Christmas everyone!

Pray for peace.