Christmas Eve

(I originally had a long, rambling post about how boring my Christmas vacation has been, but instead I'll make a post about Christmas itself.)

Well, it's now Christmas Eve. The holiest night of the year. A night when all barriers between men of different creeds, races, and national origins are dissolved, and all mankind is united in the expression of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

I love Christmas because of its message of peace and unity. For one night, people can be united across the lines which normally divide us, be they by class or race or any other arbitrary factors. People can see each other as their fellow man, their brothers.

As a great example, take the Christmas Truce of 1914. For just one night, one sacred night, two sides who were literally entrenched in war, and whose mission was to wipe out each other to the very last man, put down their guns and reached across No Man's Land. They played football together, gave each other gifts of tobacco and cigarettes, and sang carols in the bitter cold together until morning came. Then they resumed their positions, and the war dragged on for another three years.

Yet for one night they were able to see each other as human beings, as creatures with their own thoughts and desires and families, and not as vague phantoms of an enemy.

So this Christmas, let the borders fall again. Let the air be full of carols, and the atmosphere be full of joy and goodwill! And, as Tiny Tim observed, may God bless us, every one!

Merry Christmas!