Merry Christmas!

A little story that speaks to the power of humanity...

In the frostbitten trenches of 1914's winter, as World War I's brutal crescendo thundered on, an unprecedented event unfurled.

It was Christmas, and on a battlefield that had needlessly swallowed so many souls, something miraculous transpired. German and English soldiers, entrenched in a war of attrition, ceased the hail of bullets. Instead, voices lifted in song and a football arced through the air, stitching a fragile truce.

This fleeting peace, dubbed the Christmas Truce, emerged as a spontaneous act. For two days, on December 24 and 25, an unofficial and unsanctioned cease-fire spread along the front lines, offering a blunt contrast to the relentless violence.

Rifleman J. Reading, an English soldier, penned a letter to his wife, detailing the surreal shift. "The Germans began to sing and shout in clear English," he wrote. "They called out, inviting us to meet them halfway across no-man's land."

Reading’s letter further described how soldiers, unarmed and cautious, ventured towards each other. Hands once clenched around rifles now extended in greeting. Tobacco and cigars were exchanged as tokens of this improbable fellowship. "We did not fire that day," Reading recalled. "The silence was so profound it felt dreamlike."

Then, amidst the stillness, a football appeared, as if conjured by Eirene herself. An English soldier later recounted, "The ball seemed to materialise from thin air. We cobbled together goals, and soon a game ensued, drawing in hundreds."

German soldier Kurt Zehmisch offered a different origin for the ball. "The English produced a soccer ball from their trenches," he wrote. "What ensued was a lively match. Astonishing and bizarre, it was a testament to Christmas, the celebration of Love, uniting foes as friends, if only briefly."

This extraordinary truce, immortalised in war diaries, letters, and photographs, never recurred in the subsequent years of World War I. To those who lived it, it was a dreamlike interlude, a moment where the spirit of Christmas bridged a chasm of enmity, transforming soldiers into momentary comrades.

Each time I read this story, I wonder how different the world would be if those still under the mainstream’s grip awakened. So often the establishment succeeds in their mission because they successfully pit us against one another. The Christmas Truce I think serves as an example of our ability to break that manipulation, even in times of brutal conflict.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!