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Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and BAFTA nominee for the 2005 Best Foreign Language Film, Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) tells the incredible true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish, French and German troops during World War I.

In December 1914, amid brutal warfare on the Western Front, opposing sides paused fighting for Christmas. Soldiers set up small trees, sang carols, and ventured into No Man’s Land to shake hands, swap gifts like cigarettes and food, and even compete in games. Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas), directed by French film director Christian Carion, tells the story with poignancy.

Joyeux Noël: Powerful Reminder of Good in an Evil World

According to Wikipedia, “the story centres mainly upon 6 characters: Gordon (a Lieutenant of the Royal Scots Fusiliers); Audebert (a French Lieutenant in the 26th Infantry and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant of the 93rd Infantry); Father Palmer (a Scottish priest working as a chaplain and stretcher-bearer); and 2 famous opera stars, German tenor Nikolaus Sprink (based on Walter Kirchhoff) and his Danish fiancée, mezzo-soprano Anna Sørensen.”

Sadly, the film is not readily available for streaming in Australia, but you can buy or rent the DVD (remember those?) from online retailers like Amazon.com.au, eBay Australia, or Fishpond.com.au. It’s well worth a watch, but viewer discretion is advised due to the film’s occasional war violence, an adult scene and some colourful language.

Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) is a beautifully made motion picture. Reflecting on last weekend’s shocking, senseless violence at Bondi Beach, the film is a powerful reminder of the need to rediscover what we humans have in common. Contrary to some of the prevailing narratives, there’s plenty.

Love for family, the country that offers a fair go to all, and the biblical values that built Australia, even if you’re not a follower of Christ, are things we can all share.

As my colleague Samuel Hartwich and Dads4Kids cofounder, my father Warwick Marsh, recently wrote for The Daily Declaration:

“While it remains to be seen how Australians and our leaders will respond to the Bondi massacre in the weeks ahead, we know the answer to the problem of evil: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Jesus himself was brutally murdered as he died for the sins of the world – ours and yours. Only the gospel can transform hearts and renew minds, filling them with Jesus’ grace, peace and truth.”

As the wasteful wars of the 20^th Century and the recent Bondi Beach bloodshed have demonstrated, war and chaos are visited upon humanity far too often. Reflecting on the moving, impromptu Christmas Eve service depicted in Joyeux Noël, Father Palmer, the Scottish priest played by Gary Lewis, says poetically:

“Tonight, these men were drawn to that altar like it was a fire in the middle of winter. Even those who aren’t devout came to warm themselves. Maybe just to be together. Maybe to forget the war.”

Like the story of Joyeux Noël, the message of Christmas is one of faith, hope, and ultimately love. As John 3:16 reads in the New Living Bible Translation, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Lovework

This Christmas, take the time to celebrate with family and friends the real reason for the season. My prayer is that, regardless of our individual situations, we’re able to discover peace and goodwill to all men this December.

Yours for peace and goodwill to all men,

Nathaniel Marsh

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Originally published at Dads4Kids.