Maybe not everyone has heard the song yet, but it is a tear jerker to some degree, at least to me it is. The song, Christmas 1915 by Celtic Thunder, an Irish Tenor Group, is one that I have listened to over and over to get the lyrics, which most of them are easy to learn and understand. There is a story told in this song and it is one that resonates throughout the 20th and now the 21st Century.
Let me give you the story and then you can decide if you want to buy the c.d. First of all, the way that I came across it is by flipping through the channels on television and found Celtic Thunder performing their Christmas special on PBS. I need to watch this channel more as there are some great shows on the channel. When I heard the song, I was not sure of what my reaction was going to be as my feelings toward the Germans is one of mixed feelings. Well, let me back up. I should actually say the Nazi Regime of World War II, not the Germans of World War I.
Anyway, the song, Christmas 1915 is about what was happening early on in the First World War. It was, as most of you know through your history lessons a bloody, bloody war as most wars are. The type of fighting that took place in France during this war was known as Trench Warfare. This meant that both the British, the French, the Germans and then the Americans learned how to dig trenches and stay in them until there was a good time to charge at one another. It was not an easy feat because there was an area called "No Man's Land" in between the trenches.
On Christmas in Nineteen Hundred and Fifteen, the guns went silent for a bit. In the silence and in the mud and in No Man's Land, the British were able to hear a voice, strange to them as it was, singing a song with notes they knew (this is part of the lyrics of the song). Then, we get to meet the German soldier, all of twenty-one years old, lying in No Man's Land between the trenches and singing a song of peace, entitled, "Silent Night." Numerous times, verses from Silent Night is referenced in the song.
What is interesting to know is that a truce was briefly called so that the men from both sides of the conflict could meet in No Man's Land and exchange pictures, cigarettes and pots of wine and hand-in-hand, they sing about peace and about the Lord Jesus Christ ("A King is Born of Peace for evermore).
When Christmas 1915 ended, the canons roared onces again, and once again, the fighting ensued. In the song, the tenors sing about how the German soldier all of 21 was killed in the renewed fighting. He really never did get to experience what the world was truly coming to.
So, this song should resonate throughout this Christmas season if not throughout time. Wars are truly not necessary but God has His reasons for what occurs on earth and we have to do what is right and be righteous in His eyes. We have to stop misbehavin' and come to terms with what Peace and Goodwill To Men is all about. For one day, a very short day, men who were given orders to kill, laid down their weapons to sing a song of Christmas.
I challenge the leaders of the world to lay down their differences, if not for eternity, but for one day, Christmas 2010. Stop the bickering, stop the in-fighting and share the pictures of what was and is good. Share the good news that the King who is born of Peace for evermore is here. He is in each of us and He is seeking the Lost meaning those that need Him in their lives.
If you are interested in some great Christmas music, purchase the Celtic Thunder Christmas c.d. It is great!
Here are links to some information about the legend that produced many version of the Song Christmas 1915. It is said that such an event really happened, but who really knows?
Merry Christmas!
David Brown
Co-Founder Mission Lighthouse Ministry
No comments:
Post a Comment
God Bless and God Speed.
Should you be interested in a guest speaker for your church or religious organization, feel free to contact me at 404-494-6718 and I would be more than happy to meet with you for a great time of testimony and worship.