Stille Nacht

Imagine it being just after midnight, December 25, in the small community of Oberndorf, Austria 196 years ago, in the year 1818.  Located near Salzburg, the home of one of the world's greatest composers, Obendorf was in the throes of discontent as this was only a few years following the completion of the Napoleonic wars.  Salzburg would lose its independence, and in its larger region would see the Saalach River be a dividing line between the Bavarian section of Germany, and Austria.  In the appropriately named St. Nicholas Church, the assistant pastor, Father Joseph Mohr, and the choir director, Franz Gruber were singing for the first time the song "Stille Nacht," or as we know it in English, "Silent Night."  This song would become one of the most popular in Christendom although myth and tales surround, but add to, its story.

Silent Night Chapel in Obendorf, Austria (Google images)

The song was created to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we have to think that Bethlehem was not likely very quiet the night Christ was born.  We know that there was no room for Joseph and his very pregnant wife Mary at the Inn, or if your liking goes to a different translation "the place were traveler's lodged."  The owner of this place is unknown and it was either a great act of kindness, or a great act of disdain to place a women in her condition in a barn.  The barn was likely not built out of stone or wood, but probably was a limestone cave, or rock outcropping.  The church of the Nativity is located at a high point, so it may have been a rock outcropping.  At that time even many families lived in caves. Bethlehem was probably not very large in population, making its ability to handle the number of people filing into this community even more difficult.  Besides all the travelers, it would have had soldiers, tax collectors, along with itinerant merchants, and caravans following the mass of humanity.  If the night had been silent, it would have been broken by the cry of a new-born boy then little known, but now highly regarded by Christians today.  This cry would echo off the walls of the limestone cave out to a waiting world.

Birthplace of Jesus, Church of the Nativity (Author photo)

Father Mohr actually had written the words to "Stille Nacht" two years earlier while stationed at the pilgrimage church of Mariapfarr, Austria. His grandfather lived near Mariapfarr, and some believe he first thought of the verses as he made his way to his visit his grandfather from the rectory.  While it is not clear what drove him to write the words it is well established that he wrote this poem while at that small pilgrim outpost, but the world is fortunate that he took his work with him to Oberndorf.

Mariapfarr, Austria (Google images)

Over 2000 years ago, Joseph and Mary would journey to Bethlehem from their home in Nazareth, and then of course their famous trip to Egypt.  The journey to Bethlehem could not have been easy, it is a fair distance south of Nazareth, and the terrain over parts is less than easy to traverse.  It would involve hills and valleys, rocks and more rocks.

Shepherd's Fields Church, Bethlehem.  (Author photo)

It was on Christmas Eve in 1818 that Father Mohr would walk to the teacher--choir master's house hand him his poem, and ask him to write a melody for guitar and accompaniment so that it could be sung at midnight mass.  I am sure Franz Gruber's wife was not too happy of him being assigned this type of chore on such late notice. No one knows why Father Mohr would ask that a melody be created at that point, it could be that he wished a composition to be sung with guitar, rather than the organ.  Others have speculated that a mouse destroyed parts of the organ, so it was not playable, although some say the reports of mouse damage was only popularized in the American press. Whatever, the reason, the two stood in front of he main altar and sung "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" for the first time.  Their composition would impact the world, and become one of the most famous of Christmas carols.

Franz Gruber and Fr. Mohr  (Google images)
Note the names under the images are not correct

The impact of this composition is directly related to those events on that perhaps not so silent, but yet holy night in Bethlehem so very long ago.  Shepherds would quake at the sight of the young baby lying in a manger, swaddled for protection from a cruel world.  Wise men, following a celestial sign, would pay homage to the young child.Of course, we know that while his birth was important it was his message, his death and his resurrection for which Christians are most grateful.  For God sent his only living son.

Shepherd fields cave where shepherds would live (Author photo)

This composition of Mohr and Gruber would be spread to other parts of Germany and Austria by an organ repairman who would obtain a copy of the song while doing work at St. Nicholas church.  The song is thought to have been popularized by two 19th century versions of the Vonn Trapp Family Singers, who would incorporate it into concerts.  During this stage, the melody was adjusted and some words altered, gradually evolving to the carol we know and sing today.  The changes over time also slowed down the song's tempo.  Originally, it was much more spirited.  For some reason people correlate slow with reverent, to the point that some church music is more laborious than a communist funeral dirge.  Gruber would produce a number of various arrangements of his original composition. A score of the tune signed by Mohr was discovered in 1995.  Analysis puts the date of the discovered copy to between 1820 and 1825, so it was likely a copy of the original, and Mohr appropriately placed a date of 1816--to recognize his original composition.  In the upper right corner Mohr would write:  "Melodie von Fr. Xav Gruber." The song is believed to have had its first English translation of the first few verses by Episcopalian John Freeman Young.  If one were to read the BBC account, you think it was Young, and not Mohr, who should receive the most credit.  So goes the world of English dominance giving credit to an interpreter rather than the original composer.

St Nicholas Church, rebuilt in 1913 (Google image)
Original was destroyed in a flood

It would take time for the world to recognize the impact of the birth of the baby which the carol honors.  Christ may have been born on that one night so long ago, but his church would take years to get a foothold, and many more to see it spread through the world.  Christ's message was first spread by the apostles.  Although most of them would stay within the bounds of the Roman Empire, at least one, Thomas, would move beyond and travel to the Indian Subcontinent.

Church of the Nativity, Manger Square (Author photo)

"Silent Night" has been popular with both Catholic and Protestant congregations, and its rise in popularity may be due to it being favored by the protestant Prussian ruler William IV.  The third line in English, " 'Round yon virgin Mother and Child" was not in the original German instead it seemingly better translates to "Just the faithful and holy pair." This part of Europe was in a time of transition, and Father Mohr and places he had served were adjusting to territory transfers.  Let us look at the wrote the fourth stanza, which in part reads:  "...Brought the world peace tonight, from the heavens' golden height Shows the grace of his holy might...."  Mohr was writing about peace being brought to the world.  Peace is a concept, often relegated to second place in a competitive world.

1820's version of Silent Night in Mohr's hand (Google images)

Christ was born into an occupied territory, although with some semblance of local control, yet still under the domain of the Roman Empire.  Jesus would spend his life within the bounds of the Middle East, a region of the world still in strife.  On the one hand it is ironic that the Prince of Peace would be born in a region so continually torn, but on the other hand perhaps it is fitting as no region on earth needs to strive more for peace.  Christ is the Savior, at least for us Christians, but the world is still occupied by humans who are frail and subject to varied thoughts and temptations.  Christ was born in an unassuming manner to unassuming parents. In this he bears some resemblance to Father Mohr, a man who was born and died in poverty. A man who gave what he had to assist the less fortunate.  He was Francis before their was Pope Francis. The author of the words for this carol was contested until the finding of his copy in 1995.  As much as the English revere John Young, they probably woudl wish to give him the credit.  Austria would finally realize the significance of this song writer. One commentator, notes the meaning of this song, when he wrote about the seeming insignificance of Fr. Mohr:

Perhaps this is part of the miracle of "Silent Night."  The words flowed from the imagination of a modest curate.  The music composed by a musician who was not known outside his village.  There was no celebrity to sign at its world premiere  yet its powerful message of peace has crossed all borders and language barriers, conquering hearts of people everywhere.  (Egan, Bill)

Moon over Bethlehem (Author photo)

The words of Fr. Mohr should occupy our thoughts, as peace begins with each of us.  100 years ago, during the Great War, the German army started to sing "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" only to hear British soldiers join their singing, The Germans and British would leave their trenches to introduce one act of kindness amid the madness of war; this act would never be repeated during that conflict. The Christmas Truce would not be repeated. The song, sung in the trenches of the Great War 100 years ago was only a catalyst to spread forth an idea of peace.  Peace is perhaps most often thought about this one day a year, but needs to be with us everyday.  We need not be king, president, or pope to bring peace into the world.  The message of this song is that peace begins with each and every one of us.  Simple small acts of kindness can help in a lonely, busy, tired world.  Jesus would preach a message of faith, hope, love and peace.  It is up to us to put those words into action.

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

March to the Sea

December 21 is a rather famous day in history.  Which other date can claim to be the day with the shortest day light hours, but more importantly the birthday of not only my twin brother, but my brother-in-law and a niece.  It would be difficult for any historical event to compete with these events, so this short post is not about any of the above, but rather the one event that would drive a nail through the heart of the confederacy.  A few months after having wreaked havoc on Atlanta (popularized by Gone with the Wind) William Tecumseh Sherman would take the war across Georgia to Savannah.  This would be one of the most significant movements in any war, perhaps rivaling the sea battle of Lepanto, and Epaminondas' travel into Peloponnese.

W. T. Sherman

The Civil War was now well into its fourth year, and was finally seeing significant progress in a war that was becoming old and worn to those fighting and to those watching.  Sherman would be given Grant's old command when Grant was appointed to the top Army post.  Both Grant and Sherman realized that to win the battle, the war had to be taken to the people of the south.  Sherman would develop a policy to do just that.  "War is hell," Sherman had once said and he wished the people of the south to understand what they had wrought on the nation.  Lincoln and Grant both wondered about the wise nature of the move Sherman would make, Lincoln more so than Grant, as Grant trusted Sherman's judgement.

Burning of Atlanta

Sherman's policy was quite simple, he would disconnect from his supply lines, and he and his army of 70,000 men would, quite simply, live off a land with little to give.  He had conquered Atlanta in early September  (guaranteeing Lincoln's reelection), and in October he began planning for this campaign.  This mass of men under his command was composed of four army corps, each with certain synchronized movements, but an ability to exercise independent judgement.  While Grant was kept busy with the less than successful siege of Petersburg, and General Thomas, a Virginian fighting for the Union, was moving in the area of Tennessee, Sherman would move east from Atlanta to the sea.

March to the Sea

On November 11, Sherman cut the telegraph wires connecting Atlanta to Washington, and prepared to move. He would have no communication, no support trains, no additional munitions. Forty days after having cut his telegraph wire, he would enter Savannah, Georgia. This would be the first leg of this remarkable movement of men and machine. He would free slaves, burn plantations, and warehouses, and create "Sherman bow-ties" with rail ties. Devastation and destruction was his idea of total war. Making war so horrible that few would wish to repeat it. With the battle of Atlanta, and his famous march to the sea, Sherman would add an exclamation point to Robert E. Lee's comment: " It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it." On December 22, the day following the fall Savannah, Georgia, he would send a telegraph to President Lincoln reading: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton."  Less than two months later, Sherman's troops would take relish in the destruction of Columbia, SC, the birthplace of the Civil War. 

Union Troops enter Savannah

I suppose I had my share of little wars with my twin brother over the past 57 years, but none of them rose to the level of destruction as Sherman's move east to the Atlantic ocean.  In any event Christopher Hovel should remember that he graduated from the University of Wisconsin on the 150th anniversary of a movement that helped defeat the confederacy.

Images from Google images.

Bulge, redux

I wrote the following post one year ago, Dec. 16, 2013.  Today would mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, and since I lack time to work up a new post on this battle, I thought persons may be interested in recalling what I had wrote regarding this battle one year ago.

Bulge

On this date in 1944 one of the most famous battles in WWII began.  For historians and those in the European theater of WWII the term bulge has a different connotation than one's efforts to tone their physique after an increase in food consumption, particularly as a result of Christmas celebrations.  The Battle of the Bulge, as opposed to the battle of the bulge, refers to the last ditch effort by Adolph Hitler to divide the Allied lines and get a negotiated, rather than unconditional surrender.  The battle started on 16 December 1944 and would end in January 1945.  Much has been written, and movies made, about this famous World War II battle.  For the Germans battle preparation, and alignment did not happen overnight, and one has to credit to the German high command and troops at the front for keeping preparation efforts a secret.  This allowed the Germans to amass over a quarter million troops in and near the Ardennes Forest of Germany. Before, and after the Battle of the Bulge, there was the longest US battle on German soil, and also the longest in US History, the Battle for Hurtgen Forest, near the Belgium-German border.  The Hurtgen Forest battle would last from 19 September 1944 to 10 February 1945.  A key US division during this battle was the 83rd "Thunderbolt" Division.  The Thunderbolt division was, at the time, part of the Allied First Army under control of Lt General Courtney Hodges.  They were charged with taking control of this 50 sq mi forest area in order to provide another way into the heart of Germany.  During this battle, Hodges would take Aachen, Germany.  Aachen is the town made famous by Charlemagne.  But, Hodges' focus was the Hurtgen Forest, and  it is here that he concentrated his effort in order to protect his southern flank.  It was also in and near this forest that German troops were gathering for the famous counter offensive.

One member of the 83rd division, was Roy Bernard Hovel, a special agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps, with the rank of Technical Sargent.  Special agent Hovel, who passed away in 2003, was one of two CIC agents in Luxembourg for about three days, to testify at a trial of spy prisoners they had apprehended.  During this visit he was able to spend time with a lady friend and her parents.  This lady friend would assist with interpretation while he he undertook Army business.  When he was about to depart for his unit at the conclusion of the trial, Jean Mayer, a friend of Roy's (also the father of his lady friend) and the warden at the Luxembourg Grund Prison, questioned him about what he had heard about German activity in the area of his planned route of travel.  Let us pick up a few words in a letter Roy Bernard wrote to his parents, dated December 19, 1945, headlined simply, "Somewhere in Germany".  The letter begins with a simple phrase:  "I am sorry that I have delayed in writing to you for so long, but a lot has happened since my last letter a week ago."  He would go on to say that the prior night was the first time he had to read their letters from 7 Nov  up to "Daddy's letter of Dec 5th."  It is at a later point in the letter, that he provides a little more information. Recall that his letters are read by censors, and while this letter does not have any information cut, others did, so there will be no direct reference to specific events. The third paragraph reads in part: "I have had a lot of experiences within the past week, including to both extremes the best and the worst living in my experience overseas, if not my life."

Entry gate to Luxembourg Grund Prison

In 1965 Roy Hovel wrote a letter to a person who was looking to write a book on the CIC.  This letter, which provides additional detail to that week, is summarized as follows:  In the very early morning of Dec 16, 1944 Roy and agent Turner were departing Luxembourg City, but due to early time of day had not been in contact with any commanders regarding recent activity. They left early in the morning as they had to drive without lights.  All was quiet on this front as they took the road north of Luxembourg City, which was the one closest to the eastern border.  But the quiet of the morning was about to turn.   Hovel and his partner were about 14 miles outside of Luxembourg City on the way back to their post in Germany east of Aachen, when a tracer bullet went, as he says, "between my eyes and the windshield of the jeep."  As other bullets hit the jeep he was driving, he jumped into the ditch on the left side of the country road, and his partner to the right ditch.  Over the course of the day the two agents were able to make their way to the bottom of a hill and eventually made contact with a reconnoitering Army Captain who took them to his division's intelligence division.  Here they reported what they had encountered.

It is possible that Jean Mayer, as warden at the prison, had heard rumors about German activity in the outskirts of the Luxembourg City, but likely did not realize the significance of that information.  The Allied Army, as we know, was in the dark about German movements;  but at least Roy Hovel, as he left Luxembourg before dawn, knew to keep his eyes open.  He and his partner would later learn that this was start the Battle of the Bulge.  As battle lines became more fluid, he would find his way back to his unit.  The Thunderbolt Division would be relocated to fight in the Bulge, engaging in the battle just after Christmas.

The 19 Dec. 1944 letter raises the question as to what best and worst parts of his time that week had been.  The best part of his time was likely his time with his lady friend Berty.  In the letter he wonders if he may not be falling in love with Berty, who he had met while the 83rd was stationed in Luxembourg.  What American man, or any man, would not think the company of a women was a respite from the fog of war?  The worst was likely the German ambush and his means of transportation arguably being the first US materiel destroyed in the Battle of Bulge.  His quick reaction kept him from being the first human statistic. Anita Hovel, a sister to Roy, would recount that he and his partner were able to gather and enjoy some treats his lady friend Berty and her parents had sent along as they made their way back to allied lines.  

The letters he received from Rudy, Ida and Anita are, as far as I know, lost to history.  His letters home were kept by his parents.  Reading the copies of the letters he wrote home you get a sense of a desire for information, but to be home.   Many of his letters begin with him wondering when his parents or sister would have last written.  Near its conclusion, one can sense the solitary nature of another Christmas away from home.  He writes: "The days are going fast these days and soon Christmas will be here.  I suppose it will be one of the loneliest ones I spent, but it couldn't be worse than last year as over here you know you cannot be on leave for it and so one not too disturbed over that, although I wish I could spend it with you."   He would have spent Christmas 1943 in the US, but unable to obtain leave to spend the holiday with his family.

As to whether he was falling in love with Berty, he concludes that portion by saying time will tell.  Of course, he did not marry Berty.  He would come back to the United States, marry Mary Jeanne Sweeney, and together they would produce a family of ten.

Mayer family temporary home in Dommeldingen, suburb of Luxembourg City.
The family was required to live here during the occupation until 14 Nov 1944

As 2013 starts to wrap up, perhaps we need to think of Christmas in a slightly different way than we have in the past.  While Christmas cookies may give us a bulge to which we need to battle, they provided a comfort food for a man making his way back to his unit during the true Battle of the Bulge.

Former Convent Church, and by 1944 was part of the prison

Giver and Gaudete

When my sons were in middle school, or perhaps grade school, they had to read the book by Lois Lowry entitled The Giver. I read the book at the time, and recently found myself ordering the 2014 movie from the local library. My spouse and I watched the movie Friday night. It is likely just coincidental, but I find some parallels between this movie, and what some Christian faiths will celebrate today, Gaudete Sunday. If your family had the tradition of lighting an advent wreath, this is the Sunday when the rose colored candle is lighted. In the Catholic tradition, the other three candles are purple. The rose colored candle acknowledges that we are at the half way point of advent, but also that we are in joyful anticipation of the coming of Jesus. Gaudete is Latin for "all of you must rejoice." It seems more an order than a request, meaning that the preparation of advent now changes to a joyful attitude.

Book cover

Yet, we should of course always be joyful.  Pope Francis himself has said that there should be no sourpusses in Christianity.  Of course, we are all human, and thus have some frailties.  Frailties are part of our human existence, Just as there would be no resurrection of Christ, without his death, so to how would we know joy if we do not know pain and suffering?  Joy is different than happiness.  But, you may ask how does the movie "The Giver" relate to this Sunday of advent?

Jonas and the Giver, movie scene

The Giver (book) and  "The Giver" (the movie) take place in a society that is very antiseptic, no real feelings are evident.  Those that do  not meet the prescribed standards of what they consider human development are, as the book puts it--"released."  Of course, released is simply the euphemism for euthanasia, It is a colorless world, as portrayed literally, and of course figuratively.  The book is named for a person within this society who is called the Giver.  His job is to pass down all of the information from prior ages.  In this it includes the good and bad.  He is an oracle for the community. The antiseptic world was created to guard people against war, riot, and other unpleasant circumstances which often pit man against man.  But, in doing so they have no feelings, and are so automatized that they do not comprehend their situation.  With a lack of human emotion, they do not understand feelings. This is shown when the Receiver, a young 18 year old man, after some instruction by the Giver, approaches a lifelong female friend of his and grabs her hands and kisses her on the lips.  In this society, one cannot touch another who is not part of their unit--what we would call the family.  The girl has no way to describe what she felt, the terminology has ceased, there is no room for expression of thought, for expression of hate, or expression of love.  The Receiver understands, as he has the "capacity to see beyond" which is to see color, and in this case both literal and figurative.  Literally he will see colors where the world is a black,white and 50 shades of grays.  Figuratively he is beginning understand human emotions.

Jonas and female friend, movie scene

Children are not produced by a mother and father, but only by those authorized.  The woman does not care for her child, the care is provided by a Nurturer, one of who is the Receiver's older adult male in the unit.  Jonas, who is the Receiver, comes to a realization when he sees his father "release" a young baby from the bonds of earth, in other words, kill the baby, as it did not meet the prescribed community standards in its development.  Jonas' sister is helping the family unit care for a baby named Gabe (Gabriel), to see if he will  be able to meet the community standards of child development.  Upon arriving home one evening after another session with the Giver, Jonas is told that Gabe did not meet the standards and is being prepared to be released. At this point, Jonas escapes with the baby and goes beyond the borders of the community.  He and Gabe overcome rocks, deserts, heat, cold, mountains and snow.  Climatic variations are not allowed in the community so Jonas has his first experience of snow in the mountains, although he had a dream earlier in the movie that portended the event he is now experiencing.  He has reached his physical, and likely mental limits and at the lowest point of his life, wondering if what he had done was the right thing, would he and Gabe survive?  

Advent wreath

Then, they hear voices coming from a distance, providing him sufficient strength to make his way down the next slope he sees a home nestled among the pine trees and the snow.  People in the home are singing, 'Silent Night".  It is likely Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning.  It is here the movie ends.  Jonas has seen deprivation, and despair, but now he is not simply happy, but joyful.  Mike Jordan Lasky writes that "joy is something deeper than happiness;" he quotes Henri Nouwen who says of joy: it is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing -- sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death -- can take that love away." Nouwen continues: "I remember the most painful times of my life as times in which I became aware of a spiritual reality much larger than myself, a reality that allowed me to live the pain with hope ... Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."

Jonas with Gabe, movie scene

This is what Jonas, and the Giver, who plied Jonas to leave and find his way, and bring promise of human feeling and experience to the full community by his action of leaving and escaping to the non-controlled world. Jonas, gave Gabe a new life, but it was the impending death (release) of Gabe which was the spark that drove Jonas to realize he lived in a community that lacked human feeling and emotion.

Patricia Datchuck Sanchez wrote this past week: "Jesus warns us against the security of isolation from human misfortune," and then she quotes Pope Francis: "we are, instead, to enter into the reality of other people's lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it means to be a people, to be part of a people." Jonas would understand what Pope Francis was saying. yes, we have Ferguson, choke-holds, war and death, but we also have kindness, generosity, life, and joy.

Church of the Nativity, author photo

So, yes, I see a connection between The Giver and Gaudete Sunday, The community in which Jonas grew up was secure, but it was isolated from misfortune. Jonas found joy when he found human emotion and his final realization was that one snow filled night hearing Silent Night radiating from a lodge nestled among the evergreens and slopes in the mountains. I am not sure whether it was intended by the author or not, but Jonas realized joy on the most holy of nights, with a child bearing the same name as the angel who had appeared unto Mary. As we prepare to celebrate this Christmas, and the birth of Jesus, let us recall that joy needs to fill our hearts and that we cannot let the misadventures of humanity be in our way. Use joy as a way to better understand and appreciate our humanity. We need the full range of emotions to have, as Pope Francis has said, that "wonderfully complicated" experience that means we are part of a people, not isolated from difficulties, differences, or disasters.Being human, we all we struggle with the concept of seeing joy in the face of despair. Yet, it strengthens use and makes us better. Joy leads to love, and love gives us joy. An unending circle, not unlike the circle of the advent wreath.

Unless otherwise noted, images are from Google images

Christmas Truce

It was late on Christmas Eve day a century ago, just a few months into the Great War, when British soldiers heard singing, and while they may not have recognized the words…”Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Alles schläft; einsam wacht…” the tune was familiar and its recognition led them to join the Christmas song in their own English language. This was the beginning of what has become known as the Christmas Truce. On that special, holy night an extraordinary grace showed itself among the rats, cold, snow, and deprivation to men living and spending Christmas in a World War I trench. The Christmas Truce would stand out as a symbol of hope to men weary of life in the trenches, of peace to men growing ever tired of a young war, and conjure memories of Christmas’ past.  Showing that miracles exist even in the most dire of situation, most historians now believe that the Christmas Truce was not one single event along the northern front in Belgium that may have spread down the line, but rather that these grace filled moments originated independently in many different places. Some lasted a day, some lasted a week or more. These grace-filled moments in a horrendous war would show the “better angels” of man’s nature. This post is not to recount the history of these occurrences, but rather is to focus on a new developing conflict due to an advertisement playing in England this holiday season.

Sainsbury advertisement Jim and Otto

The Sainsbury Grocery store chain in England has a three minute 40 second advertisement, which would certainly test the sound bite attention span of many Americans, that started playing in England on November 12.  As of December 4, the You Tube video had over 13.7 million hits. Apparently, these rather long advertisements are rather common in England during this time of year. The British “Advertising Standards Authority” has received many complaints about the ad, with the main complaint being that it is promoting a company through war. Sainsbury worked with the Royal British Legion to produce what they believe to be an accurate account of one event that occurred along the northern front that night and into the next day. Some of the most biting criticisms came from a columnist in England, Charlie Brooker, who wrote “It’s all very poignant, if you mentally delete the bit where a supermarket logo hovers over the killing fields, which you can’t.” He further goes on to suggest that (in Sainsbury’s view) “it would have been a great source of comfort for them to know their noble sacrifice would still be honoured a century later, in an advert for a shop.” 

Drawing of a soccer match during the Christmas Truce

I tend to look at it differently. If an advertisement, with its main prop as a candy bar in a blue wrapper (which is being sold in England to benefit the Royal British Legion) can kindle or rekindle the memory of that special moment of sharing,and peace amid the horror of war, perhaps we are better for it. The soldiers shared a game of soccer, shared pictures of loved ones, and of course the English soldier gave the chocolate bar he received to his German counterpart.  One does not know it is a commercial until the very end when Sainsbury title appears. Small acts of kindness are part of humanity, and the small acts of sharing portrayed in the ad show that at one point during the war a peace was had. It may have been only for one day, but it nonetheless was present. Can there ever be too much kindness?

WWI Trench in the advertisement

This is not the first time the Great War has been used for gain. The cartoonist Charles Shultz, creator of “Peanuts” had Snoopy dream about fighting the Red Baron. Likely borrowing from the idea of the real Christmas Truce of 1914 a pop group from Florida called the “Royal Guardsmen” created a song still heard among many Christmas Carols on the radio today…

News Article on the Christmas Truce

...Snoopy vs the Red Baron

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

The news had come out in the First World War
The bloody Red Baron was flying once more
The Allied command ignored all of its men
And called on Snoopy to do it again.

Was the night before Christmas, 40 below
When Snoopy went up in search of his foe
He spied the Red Baron, fiercely they fought
With ice on his wings Snoopy knew he was caught.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ring out from the land
Asking peace of all the world
And good will to man

The Baron had Snoopy dead in his sights
He reached for the trigger to pull it up tight
Why he didn't shoot, well, we'll never know
Or was it the bells from the village below.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man

The Baron made Snoopy fly to the Rhine
And forced him to land behind the enemy lines
Snoopy was certain that this was the end
When the Baron cried out, "Merry Christmas, my friend!"

The Baron then offered a holiday toast
And Snoopy, our hero, saluted his host
And then with a roar they were both on their way
Each knowing they'd meet on some other day.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man

Every US Citizen should know who this is.

In opposite trenches where men had fired bullets, and lobbed mortars at each other earlier in the day, a certain trait of humanity shown through in the trenches of Belgium on that one Christmas day. The power of one Christmas song, indicative of a commonality among conflict, drew men together that night.  Peace did not come to the world, but a little bit of peace in that war was welcomed by those who participated. For that one fleeting day, on the northern front there was some good will to man.  It may be unfortunate that it takes a commercial to inform or remind us of that event 100 years ago, but perhaps we are the better for having been informed.  Perhaps it will even lead us to a act of kindness, not unlike what Jim did for Otto.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that a video on the making of the Sainsbury ad has over 600,000 views.  

Images from Google Images.

Feast

As we approach Thanksgiving, internet news is ablaze with “how-to’s” in assisting with the feast, traditions of the celebration, regional differences, and of course the idealization of the first Thanksgiving held 393 years ago. This uniquely American celebration over time has crossed the boundaries of varied ethnic settlement, to where today most, but not all, celebrations have some similarities. In that sense it representative of the United States. Rather than being a melting pot, the nation is more like a stew, with a combination of some ingredients that meld together while others retain certain unique characteristics.  As it is with our nation's population, so it is with our Thanksgiving dinner.

Representation of first Thanksgiving

Turkey is often the key fare, followed by a potato of some sort, dressing, cranberries, and (hopefully) pumpkin pie. For some reason, even the green bean casserole dish made with soup and French fried onions on top apparently has become tradition. On the radio today, a survey in all fifty states by Del Monte indicated that 77% of people in Wisconsin liked or loved the green bean casserole, and even Donna, the famed U.W. nutritionist, noted that while it is full of calories go ahead and eat it, as it has come to be identified with Thanksgiving. By the way, Wisconsin is second in approval of this casserole only to Kentucky.

Liked or Loved by 77% of Wisconsinites

But there are differences in not only how some of the food may be cooked, but also in what food is served. Some may cook the turkey differently (deep fried, grilled or roasted; brined or not), sweet verse white potatoes, and of course dressing can be made a variety of ways. I think my spouse sometimes thinks of this dinner as not so much a Thanksgiving feast, but a carb-fest. If it were up to her, many of the carb-heavy dishes would be dropped. To me the heavy carbohydrate foods are traditional to the feast and a thanksgiving dinner without them, would not be a thanksgiving dinner. That would be like taking beer and fireworks away from the fourth of July. I prefer to look at the variety of car foods available, including dinner rolls and sweet breads, as a matter of choice. It is not like you have to try everything.

Dressing

What we think of as traditional probably evolves from our own childhood experiences of the feast. For my family, it has been traditional fare, including green bean casserole. Dressing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods, and I would watch my mother make the dressing early Thanksgiving morning, and stuff the turkey, plus make a Nesco Roaster full as well. Along with turkey, it is one of the dishes I like to make for the family gathering on Thanksgiving, although in a salute to somewhat healthier food, I now supplant much of the butter, as my mom would have used, with broth cooked from the turkey gizzards.

Roasted turkey

A recent article on the CNN website, had eleven items which will be argued on Thanksgiving. the eleven did not include politics, religion, or the dealings in Ferguson, rather it was heavy items that weigh on all our minds, such as: when to eat; what to do before hand; what to serve for dessert (as if that should be difficult); is shopping on Thanksgiving day acceptable; and in recognition of our modern era, do you allow cell phones at the table. Of course, they note arguing over food also occurs: what is the best way to cook a turkey, to make dressing and what to add to the mashed potatoes. They author of that article suggested a late dinner of six or seven pm, but our tradition has dinner mid afternoon, following a touch football game, which allows for ease of travel for those going a distance. While the author suggested children be seated at a separate dinner table, we have tried, when space is available, to do one large table, although the children tended to gravitate toward on end. When I was growing up the kids and adults were intermixed. For some reason, I was always by my Dad, with my brother Joe across, and years later it occurred to me--we were the three that probably ate the most. Just keep the food coming to our end of the table.

2012 Hovel family Thanksgiving dinner table (photo by author)
Note that not all chairs have been placed at the table

But, our celebration is more than food. it is for giving thanks, and for interaction. Interaction occurred on the first Thanksgiving between Native Americans and the immigrant settlers--the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest that year, but of course it was the Indians who had taught them how to fish in the waters of this new land, and cultivate corn. Maybe, if that sharing of the first Thanksgiving had spread to other parts of the continent as settlement occurred a better appreciation would have developed between the European settlers and the indigenous population eliminating some of the strife that would follow.

Map of Ethnicity in the United States

The nation is now primarily occupied mainly be those who are descended from immigrants to this continent. This diversity has given us a symphony of different foods, traditions, and habits, but yet Thanksgiving is a unifying late fall event to recognize that differences are not always bad, that regardless where one is from people are still people. We may have different ideas of how to cook a turkey, or even if to have turkey, but this is really secondary to the fact of a celebration with others. This was recognized on that first Thanksgiving. As much as I may not like the famous green bean casserole, it does not matter to me that it is served, as I do not have to eat it. After all it may mean, even though my spouse may not like it, more dressing and carb laden foods for me. As for Thanksgiving, perhaps Eric Hollis, OSB said it best in his blog: "Thanksgiving...is a hugely important act, and because it is we can't reserve it to just one meal a year." As we gather tomorrow with friends and family let us recall the heritage of the nation, how this one holiday brings different cultures together, show our commonalities, and how we should be thankful each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all images from Google images.

North to South

There are some truths on which one should always be able to rely.  For example, the sky is blue, the Chicago Bears will lose to the Green Bay Packers, the Pope is Catholic, and that north is north.  When using a compass, the arrow will point to magnetic north, which is not the same as the North Pole.  Some world maps show both the North Pole and magnetic north, but magnetic north is fluid.  The location of magnetic north is dependent upon the inner workings in the center of the earth.  Scientists now think that the earth is nearing a time when the poles will reverse.

Magnetic pole influence

A NASA article notes that over the past 20 million years, the earth has settled in a pattern of pole reversal of every 200,000—300,000 years.  The last known pole reversal was 781,000 years ago, so in geologic time frame, we are due for another pole reversal.  If the poles reverse, my compass will no longer point north, but instead will point south.  If you were to take your compass and hop in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, and go back in time 800,000 years, you would find the compass pointing south.  If you went back 500,000 years ago it would be located in the north, similar to what is today.    The magnetic field, however, is important to more than our compass.

Cross section of the earth

The earth’s magnetic field is due to the big ball of iron that is located at the core of the earth, and that core is surrounded by a layer of molten metal. Changes in core temperature and the rotation of the earth swirl this liquid, molten metal and create the magnetic  field.   As the core’s temperature changes the boiling in one part of the outer core slows down and releases fewer charged particles.  This weakens the magnetic field.  The European Space Agency (ESA), has been tracking magnetic field and other data from its Swarm satellite.  The magnetic field produced by this activity rises up to 370,000 miles above surface of the earth.  This protects us against solar and cosmic radiation.  ESA reports that large weak spots in the magnetic field have popped up over the Western Hemisphere.  A weakened magnetic field could lead to higher cancer rates as solar and cosmic rays penetrate the atmosphere and reach earth.  Perhaps we in the Western Hemisphere need to be more careful outside, but this is particularly true if you are a red head.   

Map showing alteration in magnetic field, blue it is being reduced
red indicates where field is increasing

NASA reports that magnetic north has moved northerly by more than 600 miles since the early 19^th century.  (Magnetic north was never aligned, at least in modern times, with the North Pole.)  Explorers of that era precisely located magnetic north.  However, it is now reported that the movement of magnetic north  is about twice the rate than it was about 100 years earlier.  Physics.org notes that evidence would appear to indicate that the magnetic field slowly fades out before reappearing with the poles reversed.  So the weakening in the Western part of the globe has some scientists wondering if we are in the midst of an upcoming pole reversal.  However, the magnetic field over the Indian subcontinent has been strengthening. 

This image indicates the movement of magnetic north

What is interesting is how scientists were able to find evidence of pole reversals.  It is not like it was written down nearly 800,000 years ago in a cave in France, or a rift valley in Africa the last time it happened.  They know this from studying rock layers.  As you recall from early science there are three types of rocks, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.  Igneous rocks are formed by the flow of lava and lava contains metal oxide particles.  These metal oxide particles when cooled will essentially be frozen in the direction of the prevailing magnetic field.  By studying past lava flows, hopefully hot upset by earthquake activity, scientists know the historic position of magnetic north.  Rocks of the ocean floor and in Italy have been studied, and to date they point to 170 magnetic pole reversals during the last 100 million years. 

Volcanic spring which contains metal oxide particles

Are they occurring more frequently?  If the last one occurred 781,000 years ago, it would seem not likely since the average spacing is about 588,000 years between reversals over the 100 million year time period.  If you wish to really get back in time, it is also thought that there have been more flips between 500 million and 1.5 billion years ago, than 1.5 to 2.9 billion years ago.   Why is this occurring?  One explanation is that the inner core is slowly growing as the outer core cools and solidifies.  They theorize that as this occurs the pole flips would occur more frequently.  The idea is just like a bigger prostate restricts the urinary tract leading to less output, so too does a larger core become an obstruction to currents in the fluid outer core, leading to a less stable magnetic field.  A less stable magnetic field apparently leads to more pole reversals.

Standard field compass

Fortunately, the historical record does not seem to support any doomsday scenarios where mass destruction of life on earth was affected by a pole reversal.   Geo-physicists have studied oxygen isotopes in the rock to believe that the pole reversal does not affect the rotation of the earth.   However, modern society was long in the distant future when the last reversal occurred, and the population of the earth has become dependent upon electricity, and it is possible that communication systems and power grids would be most at risk.  Then again, these systems, as we were told, were not to have survived intact in Y2k. (To me Y2k was conceived by some IT people as a IT full employment act.)  So, if this is to occur, over what course of time does the reversal occur?  One article, in Scientific American, quotes the manager of the ESA Swarm project as saying “Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred (sic) if not a few thousand years.”  However, Paul Renne, a professor at the University of California at Berkley in earth and planetary science, says in Techtimes.com, that their study of rocks and data indicated that at least the last one “had to have happened very quickly, probably in less than 100 years.” 

The movement of magnetic north should not disrupt
the delivery of goods on Christmas

So perhaps in my grandchildren, or even children’s life time, they will see magnetic north become south.  Perhaps their cell phone may not work for a while, and they may be more susceptible to cancer due to the weakening magnetic field.  The poles should still be the poles, the sky will still be blue, and contrary to what some in the US church hierarchy may think, the Pope will still be Catholic.  While we can always hang on to some certainties, I would not want to be the person out for a backpacking trip and have my compass is giving me the wrong bearing.   

Images from Google Images

A Flower in the Brown Band

In 1918 the Armistice between the Allies and Germany to end the Great War, now known as World War I, took effect at 11:00 am of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918.  Like too many conflicts, the Great War began from a series of missteps, misunderstandings, missed communications, and missed opportunities to end it before it began.  Today has become larger than Armistice Day as it was first known.  In the United States it is now known as Veteran’s Day, to honor all those who have served their country.  There is no greater symbol of the Great War than the poppy which was popularized in the poem “Flanders Fields” written by Canadian Doctor John McCrae. Why did the poppy become such a powerful symbol of such a terrible series of events and battles?  While the color of the poppy recalls the blood that was shed in this engagement, it seems to me the poppy is also a symbol of hope.  How could a flower in a sea of devastated landscape not provide some hope?  In the wet, dark trenches any sign of life was probably an event to which the men looked forward.  To understand is to see the contrast between devastation and the flower, between death and life, between war and peace.

Flanders Fields

Methods of war in 1918 were different than that seen with the blitzkrieg and speeds of World War II.  It mainly involved trench warfare, with sides making little headway but realizing great casualties.  Between battle lines there lay a vast waste zone; but for men and rats, little survived.  Any one reading the great work of this war, All Quiet on the Western Front, or having seen Hollywood movies of the war, a most recent being “War Horse”, the images can tell more than what this writer can describe.  Although to set an image of the landscape produced by a war 100 years ago, let me turn to the words of an American mercenary, James McConnell, who would fly for the French in 1916 and describe what he saw over the battlefield of Verdun:

Immediately east and north of Verdun there lies a broad, brown band ... Peaceful fields and farms and villages adorned that landscape a few months ago - when there was no Battle of Verdun. Now there is only that sinister brown belt, a strip of murdered Nature. It seems to belong to another world. Every sign of humanity has been swept away. The woods and roads have vanished like chalk wiped from a blackboard; of the villages nothing remains but gray smears where stone walls have tumbled together... On the brown band the indentations are so closely interlocked that they blend into a confused mass of troubled earth. Of the trenches only broken, half-obliterated links are visible.

Alexis Helmer

From August of 1914 until November 11, 1918, this described the battle fields of the Great War.  Accounts tell us that, in contrast to the cold of war, the weather in Belgian Flanders was unusually warm in 1915.  Locals, still needing to make a living, would plant their fields early that spring, some up to near the lines of battle.  The red field poppy would grow at the edges of grain fields.  While the plant is an annual, it will reseed itself for the next year and bloom once again from seed in earth disturbed.  Ground disturbed on the field of battle would see poppy seeds germinate, grow and flower.  It was the view of these flowers in 1915 which would catch the attention of John McCrae.

Accounts vary on where McCrae wrote the poem that has come to represent a war  One has it being on the rear step of an ambulance, another after the burial of his comrade Alexis Helmer, and another account, by his commanding officer, had him writing it between arrivals of groups of injured soldiers.  We do know that he wrote it in early May 1915 near Ypres, by what is termed the Ypres Salient, a portion of the line that bulged into German lines leaving this section surrounded on three sides.  Helmer was killed on May 2, a Sunday morning, by a German mortar which tore his body apart.  He was buried later that night.  As the brigade chaplain was away attending to other duties, Helmer's graveside burial, at least of those body parts able to be collected, was conducted by John McCrae.  It is reported that he conducted a simple service using part of the Church of England’s “Order of Burial for the Dead.”  Helmer had a simple wooden cross to mark a now long lost grave in the Ypres Salient. 

Dr John McCrae

While a Canadian man may have written the poem in Belgium, it was an American women, in New York, who would popularize the use of the poppy as a remembrance of those that died.  She came across the poem, two days before the Armistice, in an issue of “Ladies Home Journal” while between work at Hamilton Hall where she tended to needs of service men coming and going from the Western front.    The poem in that issue was titled “We Shall not Sleep” an alternative name to “In Flanders Fields.”  She would decide then to wear a poppy to remember those who had given their all in the war to end all wars.  But, she would also search part of New York and eventually find red silk poppies that she would give to attendees of a war conference at Hamilton Hall.  To Moina Michael, the poppy was more than a symbol or recalling the dead of the war.  She viewed it as a symbol of optimism.  The war had ended and peace had now come over a war weary world.   Maybe it was presaging the shift of power for the old world to the new, but it is interesting that a war in Europe has a symbol set forth in a poem by a Canadian, with the symbol popularized by an American.

Battlefield of the Great War (World War I)

One symbol of old Europe would be the Tower of London.  A prison and symbol of terror in its own right,  it housed and saw the executions of Thomas More and others.   But, this fall it has its moat (August until November 11) filled with ceramic red poppies.  It displays one red poppy for each of the 888,246 persons from the British Empire, like Alexis Helmer, who had perished in the Great War.  It is a remarkable and haunting reminder of the human cost of war.  The poppy, while having a red color that reminds us of the blood that is shed in times of war and police actions, is also a symbol of hope-- that from fields thought barren due to battle new life can arise.  Peace can overcome strife. 

Ceramic Poppy display at the Tower of London

On this November 11, our thoughts go to veterans both dead and alive, particularly those who served in the Great War, and our other conflicts. Personally I think of my Dad who served in WWII, and my brother-in-law who served in varied conflicts in the Mid-east and the Balkans.  These conflicts, of course, unfortunately show that the Great War did not lot live up to President Woodrow Wilson’s claim of putting an end to all wars. Interestingly, it was the armistice begun almost a century ago that perhaps did more than any other factor to lead to the rise of a fanatic to take power, leading to a conflict even more costly than the Great War a generation later. Yet, we still look to the poppy to represent those who have been called to serve the nation.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(poem by John McCrae)

 Photos from Google Images