CHRISTMAS

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE

ERIK KIRSCHBAUM, REUTERS - Even 91 years after peace interrupted the
war, French generals still can't fathom why their soldiers disobeyed
orders and joined the German enemy in the silenced battlefields for a
forbidden Christmas truce. But Christian Carion, director of a stirring
new film about the spontaneous 1914 ceasefire in World War One, said he
was moved all the more when the British military asked to send copies of
his decidedly anti-war film to their troops overseas. . .

"With the French army it's difficult. French generals said: 'You go
ahead and make your movie but without us, we don't want to be partners
to this rebellion.' I said: 'Rebellion? It was 90 years ago? Is that
still a 'rebellion'? They said 'Yes'.. . .

[The film] about enemies who left the trenches in northern France, east
of Paris, to sing carols together, swap chocolate, drink toasts and bury
their dead for a few days in 1914 has nevertheless been seen by a lot of
French people. "Joyeux Noel" rose to the top of the French box office
after its Nov. 9 premiere at home with 600,000 tickets sold the first
week. Carion said the box office count hit the 1 million mark on
Thursday -- a record for a film with subtitles in France. It will get an
equally wide release in Germany, opening in 132 cinemas. Distributor
Senator said it is confident the film will surpass that in Germany --
now a deeply pacifist country.

After Germany, the film opens in Britain on Dec. 16 and will be soon
screened in another 30 countries, including the United States. Rights
were snapped up around the world after it got a 20-minute standing
ovation from a Cannes Film Festival audience. . . The story of the
short-lived truce and fraternity -- viewed as treason by superiors on
both sides that was widely covered up at the time and long after -- is
deftly told in three languages and from three perspectives: French,
British and German. . .

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23196165

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CHRISTMAS AT AMOS HOUSE

[From an article that appeared a few years ago]

RICHARD WALTON, PROVIDENCE JOURNAL - I have been volunteering overnight
at the Amos House men's shelter once a week since it opened in March of
1987. Earlier in the day I had dropped into the soup kitchen bustling
with volunteers preparing for a big Christmas dinner. The big dining
hall was festive with red and white checked tablecloths and there I
encountered the true spirit of Christmas, for there in an hour or so,
hundreds of people would be served a wonderful Christmas dinner. And
that evening, when I arrived at the men's shelter, I found another
cheerful place. Remember, these are men without a home, with little in
the way of Christmas expectations. But they were warm and safe and
treated with dignity and respect, as should be all humans. Even more
important, they were demonstrating human resilience. Even homeless on
Christmas Eve they could find something to celebrate. I wonder if that
were so in every Rhode Island home, homes often bursting with Christmas
"stuff."

When I arrived with my simple, inexpensive gifts [apples and tangerines
and home-baked cookies and Oreos and ice-cold milk {it is, as we all
know, a Newtonian law that Oreos must be consumed with ice-cold milk}],
the guys were delighted. As was I. It was a quiet night. Nothing
demonstrably Christmasy but a nice evening. Some of the guys watched
TV, some went to bed early [common because there's not a lot to do
evenings] and some dropped into my office/bedroom to chat for a while
before turning in. Although the guys were permitted to sleep in
Christmas morning, a number of them were already up by 6 when I started
to get ready for breakfast. And the smell of bacon summoned others.
About 7, the bacon in the oven to keep warm, I started taking orders,
eggs easy over, sunny side up [only one call] or scrambled. Some of the
guys seemed astonished that their breakfast was being cooked for them
[well, they did their own toast] and offered to do their own but I
wouldn't let them spoil my fun.

It took a couple of hours for everyone who chose to eat to drift
downstairs and have breakfast. Then it was time, silly Santa hat on my
long, white-haired, bearded head, to distribute the gifts Amos House had
purchased. Some of the guys were astonished by this too. Here they
were homeless and receiving gifts but Amos House has never wanted its
guests to feel forgotten on Christmas Day. The guys liked the gifts,
just right for men who had so little: flannel shirts [the right sizes]
and warm gloves and thermal underwear and warm ski caps; I probably
forgot something. So it was a cheerful kitchen this Christmas morning,
smelling of bacon and filled with men cheerful despite being homeless,
for they had not been forgotten. And soon a couple of them would start
roasting a turkey for those who had no place to go that afternoon. . .

When I left about 10 o'clock, I left behind a house whose Christmas
spirit was the equal of any in the state and, I expect, better than
some. Oh, people often say to me how nice it is that I spend Christmas
Eve and Christmas morning at the men's shelter. I never quite know how
to respond to that. Maybe it is nice but, as I appreciated again this
time, there's no one anywhere who had a better Christmas than I. I
can't imagine being anyplace else. Once again, Amos House had saved
Christmas for a bunch of homeless men . . . and for me too.

[Contributions can be made to Amos House, 415 Friendship St., Providence
02907]