It was exactly 100 years ago this Christmas, during WWI, that an extraordinary event happened which historians refer to as the Christmas Truce.

With British and German forces separated only by a no-man’s land, in some places no more than 30 yards wide, littered with fallen comrades, the opposing armies stared at each other from a line of hastily built defensive trenches lined with barbed wire and parapets.

Life in these trenches was abominable. Continuous sniping, machine-gun fire and artillery shelling took a deadly toll. The misery was heightened by the ravages of Mother Nature, including rain, snow and cold. Many of the trenches, especially those in the low-lying British sector to the west, were continually flooded, exposing the troops to frostbite and “trench foot.”

Christmas Eve of 1914 was only 5 months into the war, and the cold, weary, homesick soldiers found themselves not as heroes, as promised by their high command, but rather miserable, frightened and disillusioned wretches living in rat-infested ditches.

Then the unimaginable happened. Sounds of a German Christmas carol suddenly drifted across the frigid air.

“It was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere: and at about 7 or 8 in the evening there was a lot of commotion in the German trenches and there were these lights — I don’t know what they were. And then they sang, “Silent Night” – “Stille Nacht.” I shall never forget it, it was one of the highlights of my life. I thought, what a beautiful tune,” Pvt. Albert Moren, a British soldier, wrote in a journal.

Captain A D Chater, who was serving with the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders at the time, later wrote to his mother, “I think I have seen today one of the most extraordinary sights that anyone has ever seen.”

“About 10 o’clock this morning I was peeping over the parapet when I saw a German, waving his arms, and presently two of them got out of their trench and came towards ours.

“We were just going to fire on them when we saw they had no rifles, so one of our men went to meet them and in about two minutes the ground between the two lines of trenches was swarming with men and officers of both sides, shaking hands and wishing each other a happy Christmas.”

Hands reached out across a narrow divide, presents were exchanged, and in Flanders Fields a century ago, a spontaneous Christmas truce briefly lifted the human spirit.

“Not a shot was fired,” Lt. Kurt Zehmisch of the 134th Saxony regiment wrote in his diary that Christmas.

That good will soon spread along the 27-mile length of the British line as enemy soldiers joined in singing songs, exchanged gifts, and in some areas, took part in impromptu soccer matches.

“We stood inside the circle like street corner orators. … What a sight — little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman’s cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs,” Cpl. John Ferguson, a Scottish troop, wrote.

German soldier Werner Keil scribbled his name on a piece of paper and gave a uniform button to 19-year-old British Cpl. Eric Rowden of the Queen’s Westminster Rifles on Christmas Day 1914. “We laughed and joked together, having forgotten war altogether,” Rowden wrote.

It was a momentary peace in a war that would last for nearly four more years. The high command on both sides had a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with the enemy.

For the most part, the Christmas Truce only lasted for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, though in some areas it was extended through Boxing Day and New Year’s. As it ended, both sides decided on signals for the recommencement of hostilities. Reluctantly returning to war, the bonds forged at Christmas slowly eroded as units rotated out and the fighting became even more ferocious.

A century ago, this world witnessed the wonder and amazement of what the Prince of Peace can do when hearts open to the true Spirit of Christmas.

Imagine what our world could look like if we let the Spirit of Christ rule and reign in our hearts and communities all year round. Imagine…