SILENT NIGHT
In the eerie silence of a winter's night, we heard the voices singing sweet and clear.
We knew the tune from Christmas's long past. The music seemed to bring our loved ones near.
They sang "Heilige Nacht" remembering that he was born on Christmas Night so long ago.
We joined with them, united by the hum, all thoughts of war and death were banished so.
They were no different from you and me - their bodies weary from that senseless war.
We were all sick of slaughter and of pain. That night we sang with angels "Peace for evermore".
The souls of German soldiers and own own mingled as we praised the Holy Child,
But we had to follow orders, duties keep, and banish thoughts of Jesus meek and mild.
A truce for Christmas, that is all it was, for when the night had passed, once more they came,
The deadly shells, the bayonets, the bullets, their orders, just like ours to "kill and maim"
And then the gas came, choking, burning lungs, frantic to escape, but yet in terror bound,
This silent weapon bringing lingering death more terrifying than the mortar's sound.
How did we reach this travesty of life when the purpose of God's coming was to save?
And why did our Commanders still insist on the sending of so many to the grave?
There is no easy answer we can grasp. Man's inhumanity continues to this day.
We cannot hear God's voice amid the battle's cruel noise,
But in the silence of the night, we find his way.
In the eerie silence of a winter's night, we heard the voices singing sweet and clear.
We knew the tune from Christmas's long past. The music seemed to bring our loved ones near.
They sang "Heilige Nacht" remembering that he was born on Christmas Night so long ago.
We joined with them, united by the hum, all thoughts of war and death were banished so.
They were no different from you and me - their bodies weary from that senseless war.
We were all sick of slaughter and of pain. That night we sang with angels "Peace for evermore".
The souls of German soldiers and own own mingled as we praised the Holy Child,
But we had to follow orders, duties keep, and banish thoughts of Jesus meek and mild.
A truce for Christmas, that is all it was, for when the night had passed, once more they came,
The deadly shells, the bayonets, the bullets, their orders, just like ours to "kill and maim"
And then the gas came, choking, burning lungs, frantic to escape, but yet in terror bound,
This silent weapon bringing lingering death more terrifying than the mortar's sound.
How did we reach this travesty of life when the purpose of God's coming was to save?
And why did our Commanders still insist on the sending of so many to the grave?
There is no easy answer we can grasp. Man's inhumanity continues to this day.
We cannot hear God's voice amid the battle's cruel noise,
But in the silence of the night, we find his way.