On Christmas Day 1863, the United States of America was in the midst of the Civil War (1861-1864). At the same time, well-known American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), was struggling with his own personal crises. It was against this troubled backdrop that he penned the words to the poem that led to the popular Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
Today as we celebrate Christmas at the end of this chaotic year of 2020, we may feel as though we are reeling from a similar despair;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
May God help us remember the final words of Longfellow’s poem with the hope and boldness that can only be found in our Lord for; “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
May our hope remain anchored in Almighty God!
Christmas Bells (original words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
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.”