MHCC faculty explains what the holidays means to them

It’s that time of year, the time for holiday cheer – a time of giving and receiving, of holiday

spirit, honoring religious beliefs – and of celebrating the start of the new year.

What does Christmas mean to you? Or in the case of other religions and beliefs, say, Kwanza or Hannukah, during this time?

For some, it’s a sense of newness and generous spending. For others, it’s a season of renewal, illumination, and festive activity. And then there is love, romance, and friendships, or for some of us, more along the lines of heartbreak, sorrow, sentiment, and reminiscing.

Whatever your mood this holiday season, for many of us it’s a time of reflection on the year that’s passing.

To personally explain what the holiday season means to me, I take you back to 1914, over 100 years ago, on the battlefields of Europe.

On a cold Christmas Eve night, German and French troops were entrenched on the French front lines of World War I. Although cold, dark, and muddy, with two opposing armies trying to destroy each other, a miracle would happen that was stranger than anything written in fiction.

In an unforgettable moment, the destructive weapons and artillery stopped still, leaving utter silence – where a split second earlier there was only death, pain, and sorrow with the sky lit up not by Christmas lights but by the fire of munitions. On the holiest of Western holidays, men had been dying in combat. 

A lone French soldier who had previously sung for the opera in Paris got out of his foxhole. Standing exposed to gunfire, he started to sing a Christmas carol: “O holy night the stars are brightly shining, it’s the night of our dear savior’s birth.”

The lone soldier kept singing through the din of both enemy and friendly fire. Slowly as the soldier continued, the barrage of deathly artillery and small arms fire began to cease their assault on each side. 

The soldiers on both sides of the battlefield just sat quietly in their trenches or foxholes and listened to the lone soldier singing his carol. When he finished, there was nothing but silence. They were no longer enemies, just ordinary men remembering that it was Christmas. At that same moment, a German soldier got out of his trench and stood facing the French soldiers, and started singing his own carol.

As he finished all the soldiers from both armies began clapping. For just a moment there was no war, just the emotion of Christmas joy and the Christmas spirit.

For a brief period in the middle of widespread death and destruction, Christmas had touched two bitter rivals’ hearts. In a brief instant in that hell, there was peace and goodwill among brothers. Men previously sworn to be bitter enemies driven by nationalism, pride, and brutality had their hearts and minds tamed by a common holiday within an uncommon event they all shared together.

An appreciative sentiment and the familiarity of spending time with family, yearning to be home, and participating in giving and receiving gifts from friends and loved ones on Christmas Day stopped a war, even if for just a short spell.

This was a very rare circumstance, an event that would never be repeated for the rest of that war, or in any war since.

This year, whatever holiday you celebrate, whether it’s Christmas, Kwanza, or Hannukah, it will be a time of giving and receiving, but it should also be a time of reflection.

They say that “it’s always better to give than to receive,” yet in this life we all will sometimes receive. And whether it will be help from others, or from the divine, the greatest gift you can repay anyone for giving or helping you (in my opinion) is to live a good life, and in some instances, try to “pay it forward” to help others. What’s more, the greatest gift you can give to yourself is “forgiveness.”

I close with this thought:

“I think one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone is access to the possibility of freedom that you don’t have to be totally enslaved by your own environment.” 

Amanda Palmer

Approaching this holiday season I asked some of the staff and faculty at MHCC to tell us what is the meaning of Christmas or any holiday they celebrate – and what do they have to be thankful for?

Vicki Trujillo – Coordinator, Integrated Metals: 

“When I think of Christmas I think of birthdays (my daughters) and spending time with family

and friends.”  

Jenny Menke – Learning specialist, AVID/Learning Success Center:

“Christmas is a time for me to slow down and reflect on the things I’m thankful for.” 

David Strohl – Head of Integrated Media photography department:

“What the holidays mean to me is a time of rest, to enjoy friends and family, and of reflection on the previous year.”

Cherish Lyda – Writing tutor, 1451 computer lab: 

“For me, Hannukah is a special time to gather with family, remember everything the Lord has

done, and rededicate my life to him.” 

Virginia Olson – Career planning and counseling specialist (in the Veterans Center)

“What Christmas means to me is spending time with family, watching holiday movies, and eating great food.”