Every year at Christmas time I think about this. I first heard about it when I was in the 4th grade, reading The Good Master and The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy.
For those not familiar with the story, it tells of an event taking place Christmas 1914 along the Western Front during WWI. The two sides were separated by an area known as No Man's Land. On Christmas Eve an amazing event took place. The soldiers lay down their weapons and met peacefully in No Man's Land. They shared food, showed pictures of their families, played soccer, sang carols sharing the Christmas spirit.
Garth Brooks
Sevens (1997)
Belleau Wood
Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence
Over Belleau Wood that night
For a Christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight
As we lay there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a German soldier singing
A song that we all knew
Though I did not know the language
The song was 'Silent Night'
Then I heard my buddy whisper,
'All is calm and all is bright'
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
'Cause I'd die if I was wrong
But I stood up on my trench
And I began to sing along
Then across the frozen battlefield
Another's voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn
Then I thought that I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the German soldier
'Neath the falling flakes of white
And he raised his hand and smiled at me
As if he seemed to say
Here's hoping we both live
To see us find a better way
Then the devil's clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to hell again
But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's just beyond the fear
No' heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's for us to find it here