State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
Do you believe in miracles?
As our brave men and women continue to defend our country in Iraq and other hotspots overseas, I am reminded of a wartime Christmas miracle.
The miracle occurred on December 24, 1914 on a cold French battlefield during World War I. The Great War had been raging for four months, and one million soldiers had already perished. Many dead bodies were strewn across the bloody battlefields. Enemy trenches were so close, opposing soldiers could easily yell back and forth.
Suddenly that Christmas Eve night, British soldiers couldn’t believe their eyes as they saw candlelit Christmas trees rise above the German trenches. The candlelight allowed the Brits to see the faces of their enemies, but they withheld fire.
A British soldier, Henry Williamson, wrote in his diary, “From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remembered my German nurse singing to me. The grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist.” The song was the most beloved of Christmas carols, Stille Nacht, Silent Night.
When the Germans had finished, the British countered by singing, “”The First Noel.” The Germans clapped and then started signing again, this time, “Oh Tannenbaum.” Back and forth the enemy forces alternated carols, until the British launched into “O Come All Ye Faithful.” At that point, the Germans joined in. As one British soldier would later write, “This was really a most extraordinary thing, two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”
This unbelievable scenario would become even more remarkable as a spontaneous ceasefire broke out. Soldiers from both sides agreed not to use their weapons on Christmas Day in a truce that would stretch along 500 miles of the Western Front. Amongst the bodies of fallen comrades, soldiers from both sides emerged from their trenches to exchange uniform buttons and badges. They shared family photos with some actually agreeing to be pen pals after swapping addresses. Germans rolled out beer barrels and Brits offered plum pudding. The battlefield where shots rang out just hours before transformed into an athletic field when soldiers tossed out soccer balls.
The sudden celebration turned solemn when an impromptu ceremony was held to bury the dead. A solitary soldier began singing, once again, Silent Night, in French. Soon another voice, this one in German, joined in. Superior officers threatened their men, and the miracle ceasefire ended. When fighting resumed, soldiers admitted aiming their rifles high so their bullets would sail over their enemies’ heads. The very first Silent Night inspired a miracle that brought enemy forces together on a French battlefield in 1914.
Christmas is a humbling time of year, offering a great opportunity to reflect and appreciate what we have: family, friends, individual liberties and freedom, and for those truly fortunate, rewarding employment and good health. The most joyous season should be a reminder to all of us not to take any of what we enjoy each and every day for granted.
Please remember the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is the time we give of ourselves, we sacrifice our time, and we share the greatest gifts of love and peace. Most importantly, we must be ever mindful, as soldiers were on that French battlefield in 1914, of the Christ child and the promise of hope and salvation that came into the world with his birth.
I wish you and yours the most blessed and joyous holiday season.
Merry Christmas!
