An Empty Seat

Last Christmas I remember making a comment that we need to cherish time with family, because we never know when it will be our last Christmas together. If this year has taught me anything, it is the truth in what now was a prophetic message. For you see, in the past year I have lost an uncle, the founder of our company, my father-in-law, and my wife’s favorite uncle.

Little did I realize, the year that was to unfold before us, at the time I uttered those words. Nevertheless, how often do we pause to think as we lash out in anger or refuse to speak to someone because of some hurtful words or actions that we may never get a chance to make things right. Remember the funeral parlor is too late to ask for forgiveness.

As a child, I remember there were some family members you only saw at Christmas. How well I remember the excitement of seeing a favorite aunt or uncle again, and the enthusiasm of being able to play with cousins you rarely saw. Never do I remember petty differences keeping families apart. It always seemed to me that all was laid aside for that one day at least.

One of my favorite Christmas stories happened one hundred years ago today, where in the middle of a frozen battlefield in France a miracle occurred between British and German troops. This battlefield was the scene of a very grisly scene with troops in trenches so close they say you hear their shouts. Between the trenches, bodies lay in the open field from days of intense fighting. Suddenly to the amazement of the British, the Germans started raising tiny candle lit trees above their trenches.

Henry Williamson, a young soldier with the London Regiment wrote in his diary: “From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remembered my German nurse singing to me…. The grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange… like being in another world — to which one had come through a nightmare.” Young Mr. Williamson and the other British soldiers heard through the silence, “silent night, holy night”.

“They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate,” another British soldier wrote, “So we sang “The First Noël” and when we finished, they all began clapping. And they struck up “O Tannebaum” and on it went… until we started up “O Come All Ye Faithful” [and] the Germans immediately joined in …. this was really a most extraordinary thing — two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”

Suddenly the soldiers on both sides came up out of their trenches and celebrated Christmas together among the dead bodies. Another soldier reported that a game of soccer broke out between the two sides in one area. Some said this truce covered the entire 500-mile stretch along the western front. There was even agreement among the soldiers that they would not fire upon each other on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, that did not hold because commanding officers ordered the troops on both sides back into their respective trenches. However, it was reported that the soldiers would intentionally fire above the heads of the opposing side on that day.

Christmas is the greatest miracle that ever came into the world. If nations can lay their weapons down to celebrate the birth of Christ, why can’t families put aside their differences, even for one day? Perhaps it is time that we heed the words of Jesus as he spoke to Peter in Matthew 18:22, “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Yes, there will be an empty seat at our table, and the reality of life is that one day there will be more. Do you want to let another Christmas go by without resolving your differences, or are you willing to chance it? Make things right and cherish each moment with every member of your family; we never know when that last breath will be. As family gathers at next year’s Christmas table it could even be your seat that is empty. Do something good this Christmas season, go to that person who you have done wrong or the one who has wronged you, offer forgiveness, or ask for forgiveness.

In a few days, we will celebrate the beginning of a New Year, what a great feeling it would be if we all lay down the differences of the past and start the New Year in a good place. This Christmas I intend to celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us, and make new memories with family and friends that will linger long after I pass from this earth. Will you join me and truly make this year a very Merry Christmas?