By David Taylor, Spiritual Reflections 

Each year about this time someone has commented to me that just before Christmas people in general seem different for a brief time. They seem a little more aware of others, more apt to greet a stranger, more patient and courteous in stores and on the street. There seems to be something hard to put your finger on, but different in a positive way just before Christmas. And this is at a time when most people are feeling stress from all the self imposed tasks and deadlines preparing for a holiday. I find this interesting and hopeful, and would love to know if it is really true, and if so, what causes it.

David Taylor

But just as interesting, and much less hopeful for me, is the observation that shortly after Christmas, life has returned to “normal.” People are much more apt to walk by someone and not pay any attention, to be impatient in lines, to be irritable and easily provoked. Why? If most people agree that life seemed better and warmer during this very brief time just before Christmas, why wouldn’t they hang onto the behavior that creates the feeling?

There is a familiar story from World War I about British and German soldiers who were entrenched opposite each other, separated by a very small distance. For over a month they had endured horrible conditions, firing at each other from close range. However, on Christmas Eve, 1914, a spontaneous truce happened. It was not declared by the officers or generals, but by the men in the trenches. It is not clear who or how it started, but it is well documented that it happened. They emerged from their trenches tentatively, exchanged simple gifts of food, visited, and even played a soccer game on Christmas Day.

One could say that the soldiers brought about this spontaneous truce, and it is true. But I believe God had a hand in it also. I suspect that in some way, those German and British soldiers were listening to God’s voice, a voice speaking about the birth of the prince of peace, about the “hopes and fears of all the years being met in Christ,” about a silent and holy night. I suspect they were listening to a different voice than usual that night, and responding to it.

One account goes on to say, “The high command on both sides took a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with varying results. In some areas the truce ended Christmas Day in others the following day and in others it extended into January. One thing is for sure -- it never happened again.” Apparently from then on, the soldiers listened to their officers, who listened to their high command. But for one brief moment, a miracle happened and life was different.

What voice do we listen to and take our cues from? Is it possible that what we experience just before Christmas might become a growing and lasting part of our life together if we listen to God’s voice?

(Rev. David Taylor is pastor at Glendale United Methodist Church in Savage and can be contacted at www.glendaleumc.org. He is one of several area pastors who write columns for "Spiritual Reflections.")