WEST SEATTLE EVENT REMEMBERS 1914 TRUCE

On Christmas Eve 1914, the guns of World War I fell silent. All along a 500-mile front soldiers wandered into No Man’s Land to meet their enemies, armed only with curiosity and good wishes. The wildcat ceasefire was a spontaneous outbreak of peace in one of the most unlikely places.

2024 is the 110th anniversary of this incredible event. A non-sectarian commemoration of that occasion, and a reflection on peace in our own time, will take place December 23rd at the Highland Park Community of Christ church building (8611 11th Ave SW). Doors will open at 6 pm, with the program starting at 7 pm, ending around 8:30.

The Christmas Truce event will tell the story of the 1914 truce through narrative, pictures, drama and song. The evening will also reflect on the continued meaning of peace for us today. Representatives of several faith traditions and a non-religious representative will offer reflections on the occasion and prayers for peace. We will participate in singing from several traditions, lifting many voices united in one desire. A Readers Theater will read from actual letters by soldiers in 1914 describing the unbelievable night. The evening will also include historical retrospectives and present-day reflections on the events of Christmas Eve 1914.

World War I was the first global conflict, and as such it drew in peoples from different backgrounds, races, languages, cultures, religions, and traditions. In a world now inexorably shaped by globalism and interconnected in commerce and conflict, the impulse for a peace that interrupts the inertia of war is even more important to listen for. At a time of year when things seem most dark, celebrate the hope of more light with neighbors of all kinds.