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Viewpoint from Rev Albert Cadmore 09/01/2014
 Rev Albert Cadmore
Parish Priest at Horsey and West Somerton
Just a couple of weeks ago, many of us attended Christmas services and, for many of us, the Christmas truce on the Western Front in 1914 was on our minds as we recalled the historic football played between opposing soldiers in “No Man’s Land”. As we sang carols, I’m sure many held in mind how carols were sung in the trenches in the stillness of the night the sound travelling across the unusual stillness and peacefulness of that special Christmas night
Every year there seems to be something almost magical about Christmas Eve, as thousands who rarely attend churches at other times attend community carols and “Midnight Mass” services. Christmas is often termed the season of peace and goodwill, and it is amazing to reflect on how peace and goodwill “broke out” so spectacularly amidst the horrors of trench warfare a century ago
 Sadly, as we know, that peace did not last, and those soldiers who had met together, played football together, and exchanged gifts with one another, were back at war, killing one another a day or so later, and officers, on both sides, would ensure that no further such truces would occur for the duration of the war
In our everyday lives, and in the lives of our communities and nation, as we set off on our journey of life into a New Year, the warm glow of the season of peace and goodwill can often seem a long way off as conflicts seem so readily to come to prominence again and again
 Sadly, “man’s inhumanity towards man”, seems to be an inbuilt aspect of the human condition. Albert Einstein once said, “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding” and, on the same theme, from the Bible, we can read that Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God”. St Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, once stated, “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” There is no doubt that if only such peace could be more widespread and more widely sought, the world would certainly be a better and more peaceful and hopeful place for everyone
As we venture into 2015, my profound hope is that a search for such peace can become an overarching goal for people of all cultures and faiths and nations
Mother Teresa once said, “Peace begins with a smile”. It may seem simplistic, but that’s a guideline we can all follow in our daily lives
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