I don’t know but Mary and Joseph must have been upset when they knew the Son of God would be born in that stinky barn. They had suffered much grief at home when folks wanted to kill her for getting pregnant before she was married, and now this! Still I know they rejoiced when the baby was born.

The wisemen had journeyed hundreds of miles to find the King of Kings and must have had thoughts  of giving up, but they kept going. When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, the Bible tells us. Should we, who know now that Jesus was born in order that He would die for our sins be dreading Christmas as some do? And some of us are so busy we haven’t even thought about the child who was born that night.

Let me tell you a true story, and may it make us joyful this Christmas season. During the first World War, on Christmas Eve, the battlefield was strangely quiet. As the soft snow fell, the young men were thinking about homes and families.

Softly, one of the men began singing “Silent Night”. Others began to join in. When they finished, they were astonished to hear the song echoing across the foxholes across no man’s land. In their own tongue, the German soldiers were singing, “Silent Night. The air was soon ringing with that song sung by both American and German soldiers.

How different the world would be if we could join together around that song that goes like this: “Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, Holy Infant so tender and mild.” If only we could  love one another, no matter what color we are or what language we speak. Let our Christmas be like the one those soldiers celebrated that night so long ago. May your Christmas be exceedingly beautiful!

I will begin this, my second blog on Christmas, on December 7th, because I believe that date shaped our Christmas for that is the day Japanese airships bombed and killed many American Navy men and women. At our house my sister and I were in bed with the flu so we missed going to church with my Grandpa and aunt on the day they were driving back to their home in Tacoma, Washington. They left right after church after visiting over a week with our family. It was also my little sister’s birthday.

When Mama and Daddy came home they first came upstairs to see if we were okay and then grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on the radio. They were planning to relax before leaving for another service at one of the country churches he pastored. I heard commotion coming from downstairs so I jumped out of bed to find out what was the matter. Daddy was saying, “We shouldn’t have let them go. Tacoma is right near Fort Lewis and they could be bombed at any time!” He was talking about his father and sister.

Mama was trying to comfort him saying, “They won’t get there today you know. They would have heard the news and knew how to take care of themselves.” But soon they quieted down and headed out the door to go to the next church.

I was upset though. I sat beside the radio listening to every commentator. Everyone seemed upset. Later on, we heard encouraging words as President Roosevelt talked to us. We were now at war! We would do what we could to help others. My mind remembers making bandages and cookies for the men who were now soldiers. Oh we celebrated the birthday of our Lord but it was somber. Our time was made by helping the mothers whose husbands had gone to war. We had prayer every day at school and I think that was the year I learned to really love the Christmas carols. We sang them at home, church and school.

I believe  that is why we were called “The Greatest Generation.” We were called that because we prayed and the soldiers knew it, we helped our neighbor, especially those mothers who’s husbands were now fighting for America and we bought War Bonds. I wish we were more like that today.

Oh yes, I remember the bells calling us to prayer, and air raid tests, sitting in the dark until the test was over. I wonder. would we help others today? We seem to be a gimme, gimme group of Americans now, don’t we?