Thursday, December 9, 2021

A Christmas Truce—Time to Set Aside Our Differences

Forget for a moment vaccines and government restrictions. The holiday season is the perfect time to just be with each other

By Jayson Bueckert, Regional Director, Fort McMurray Member Centre

I made a prediction last Christmas that by this Christmas we would be crack-a-lackin’ as a society. No more masks, no more travel bans, no more social distancing. I might have been off on that.

What can be said is that some restrictions have eased with the help of vaccines and clear heads. And yet, here we are, staring Groundhog Day in the face with the variant called Omicron.

Are we back in the penalty box? Maybe, maybe not. I just hope we don’t run out of toilet paper!

What can also be said is that our conversations have shifted only just slightly. COVID has become a bit like the weather in our casual interactions. “Morning Tim. How bout that COVID, eh!”

It’s normalized to the point that I’ve even had conversations where COVID didn’t come up. And that is a great relief to me.

It’s not that I don’t understand that COVID isn’t a horrific problem. It’s more that I’m mentally fatigued trying to assess someone else’s stance on the whole deal and then tiptoeing into the conversation.

This Christmas season will bring family members together who may have different opinions on vaccines and government restrictions. I’ve read that some families aren’t even gathering simply to avoid the potential fiasco.

And that is a shame, although, if it prevents further discord, maybe it’s a prudent plan. Others will gather, despite differences of opinion on these issues, and it is my hope that they find a way to set the argument aside and focus on what it means to be a family.

I’m reminded of the Christmas Truce of 1914, a story from the World War I. It’s said that, leading up to Christmas that year, efforts were made to spark talks between the two sides.

The pope is quoted as asking “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.”

And sure enough, they did. It’s estimated that about 100,000 troops from Britain, France, and Germany took part in an unofficial truce.

They sang carols and exchanged gifts with soldiers from the opposite side. Some even joined in a game of soccer with each other. A moment of peace in the midst of conflict.

A different magnitude, to be sure, than any Christmas dinner planned in Canada this year. And yet it’s such a moving story!

Perhaps we can take inspiration from it and set aside some of our differences for a time, and just be with each other this Christmas.

A Christmas Truce—Time to Set Aside Our Differences

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