Someone reading this dreads gathering with family members this Thanksgiving. Others won’t break bread with certain friends, bonds broken by things like strained relationships or voting differently.

But I ask you: Can we disagree and still come together?

I say yes, and here is evidence of the strongest kind. A true story:

It started with a knock on the door on Christmas Eve, 1944. World War II was raging, and a German mother and her twelve-year-old son, Franz Vicken, had fled the city and the fighting, seeking safety in a remote hunting cabin in the woods. Eventually, the gunfire and bombing surrounded them there, too, with the Battle of the Bulge.

With danger all around, mother and son froze when they heard the knock on the door. The way Franz told the story years later, his mother finally opened it to find three American soldiers, lost and seeking shelter for the night. One of them was wounded.

She hesitated at first. Harboring the enemy was high treason.

Then she let them in.

As she prepared a modest Christmas Eve dinner and the Americans cared for the soldier who had been shot, there was another knock on the door. The boy answered this time, expecting to see more Americans. It was Germans instead. They, too, wanted shelter for the night.

The terrified Franz hesitated, knowing he and his mother could be shot for treason. Then she nervously approached, saying the Germans could have a warm meal, but there were others in the house who were not friends. “This is Christmas Eve,” she told them, “and there will be no shooting here.”

The German corporal demanded to know if Americans were inside. The mother hesitated, admitted there were, and said one of them was fighting for his life. She explained that the boys inside could be her sons - and so could the boys outside.

“This one night,” she said, “this Christmas night, let us forget about killing.”

The corporal stood silently for a few long seconds. Then the mother spoke before he could decide. She told the Germans to leave their weapons and come to the table before the others finished the meal.

Shockingly, the four Germans dropped their arms inside the door where the mother also laid the Americans’ guns. Then, sworn enemies who, on that same day, had been out to kill one another broke bread in peace. One of the Germans with medical knowledge even tended to the injured American. Enemies who dropped arms were simply hungry men who agreed for a night not to hate one another.

The next morning, Christmas morning, goodwill continued with the Germans telling the lost Americans where to find their battalion. Then they all went their separate ways.

This Christmas story is one I think we need now - for Thanksgiving - when some families and friends are splintered.

Time together is finite. Life is fragile. People matter more than anything - especially politics. We should treat them that way. We, too, should put down our arms, forget our differences for a while, and see what happens.

If warring soldiers can do it, we can, too. Thanksgiving is an excellent time to start.

(Photo credit: thechaplainkit.com)