I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day
Carols of Christmas Past - a Christmas blog series
I’m already wholeheartedly in the Christmas spirit, and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I can’t help it. Kicking off the season for me starts with listening to vintage albums with traditional arrangements of the carols of Christmas past.
While in the kitchen this morning mixing ingredients to bake a chocolate pound cake, Christmas music filled the air. Listening to musicians like The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, and the Boston Pops, my heart always lightens a little with the lyrics of the season.
One lyric in particular gave me pause.
For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.
Though this traditional carol evolved from the poem, Christmas Bells, penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863, it clearly portrays our world today. In my lifetime, I’ve never witnessed a more God-mocking generation. God’s truth has been hijacked and twisted to exploit hate and division, and as a result, peace on earth appears to be lost in the struggle.
Hate is strong. It mocks God’s song, His Son, and His people.
On the very first Christmas night, as God’s Promise was swaddled on a bed of hay, the heavenly host filled the sky, and their voices rang out with praise. Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! (Luke 2:14, NKJV). As the day of Christ’s return approaches, and as the world continues to escalate confusion and chaos, we, His people, cannot lose sight of what the Messiah brought with Him to Bethlehem—His peace. When He comes again to reign on the earth, we will dwell with the Prince of Peace for all eternity.
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 2:8-14
Prepare Him Room:
Start your holiday season with the “center-peace” of Christmas. Pray for peace to reign in your heart.
Thank Him for His incomprehensible gift of peace and for it to steady you, sure and strong.
Find an arrangement of the classic carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and dwell on it as you go about yours.
Christmas Bells
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."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was inspired to write this poem in 1863 during the Civil War when his son went off to fight for the Union against his wishes. While this song is about Christmas time, there is an underlying tone of the war (The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail). This poem is the basis for the Christmas carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."
https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/christmas-bells-by-henry-wadsworth-longfellow