The Joy of Christmas

Occasionally during the holidays, one hears the song, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day".  It's a great, great song.  Perhaps we should sing it more often, especially in these troubled times.

It actually has a sad beginning.  During the Civil War, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had a son, Charles who joined the Union Army, much to his father's dismay.  Later, the elder Longfellow was notified that his son had been severely wounded in November 1963.  This dreadful news,  coupled with the recent loss of his wife in an accidental fire, prompted Longfellow to write the poem, "Christmas Bells" which would later become the carol, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day."  Ponder the richness of these lyrics:

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong, And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

In the midst of human sorrow, Longfellow was comforted by the bells of Christmas.  God is not dead.  Righteousness will prevail; evil will be obliterated.

How we need the sounds and joys of Christmas in life  In sadness, in despair, in the midst of darkness, God has provided a light which provides peace on earth and good will towards men.

Merry Christmas to all!