The Ad That Reduces Grown Men to Tears

Dave S reminds us of another Christmas when the State pitted one group of us against another, though in that case with gas-masks instead of surgical ones—but combatants spontaneously overcame the suspicion and hate Leviathan had inculcated! Dave says he sends the clip with his comments below to family and friends; I bet he wouldn’t mind your cribbing from him to do the same:

Every Christmas since it came out, I make a point of watching this commercial. It is based on the little known Christmas truce of 1914, the first Christmas of WWI. 

It is amazing to me to think about this event. Right at the beginning of the West’s collective suicide, the soldiers (many of whom were just boys) in the trenches paused and loved their enemy, even in spite of the intense pressure to do otherwise.

It’s almost as if they paused and looked back in time to the old Christendom, a brief moment of the kingdom breaking into the midst of the bloodiest conflict the world had yet known. A small moment of seeing the Imago Dei in their supposed enemies.

Unfortunately, it only lasted for a day and then the bloodiest century yet known in human history continued on its long march (over 100 million civilians alone killed at the hands of their own govts in the 20th century). And it hasn’t been much better in the opening decades of the 21st.

So every time I watch this, I am filled with sadness, but there is also a note of hope. Regardless of sin and death and destruction, the kingdom has broken in and it is on the move. And each of us is a part of that journey, both individually and in the legacy of our children.

We may never live in a world of God’s peace, shalom, but everyday we can help moving one inch closer to that through the Spirit. Christ is born!

And yes, this grown man is weeping over a candy bar commercial

Share

1:34 pm on December 14, 2020