[Nfbk] The Bells on Christmas Day

[Joey Couch]

"The Bells on Christmas Day"

One hundred and fifty years ago, on Christmas 1861, the great American
poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was too filled with grief to
celebrate. Only months earlier his beloved wife had died in a tragic
accident. At the same time, the country was caught up in a terrible
civil war, and it seemed to Henry that sorrow filled not only his own
life but the whole world. He wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all
holidays.”

But several years later, as the war was drawing to a close and grief
over his wife’s passing was tempered by time, Henry was able once
again to have hope. In a renewed spirit of optimism, he penned the
poem that we now sing in the beloved Christmas carol “I Heard the
Bells on Christmas Day.”

In writing the poem, Henry recalled the despair he once felt—when
hearing Christmas bells chiming the old, familiar carols only reminded
him that fear and hate seemed to have stolen any hope for peace. But
then, as the bells pealed “more loud and deep,” the light of divine
love began to glow in his heart, like the sun shining through clouds
on a stormy winter day.

When personal challenges or the turmoil of the world robs us of hope
and weighs down our hearts with despair, we, like Henry, can listen
for the sacred sounds of Christmas. They sing a carol of God’s love
and chime a musical message of faith that He is there, that wrong will
fail, and that truth will win out in the end. We can take courage in
the assurance of the psalmist that God “shall neither slumber nor
sleep” but will always watch over those who seek Him.

Generations ago, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow heard those hallowed
Christmas bells and listened to their sublime voice of hope. His faith
was strengthened. He knew that peace and goodwill come to those who
trust in God. If we listen, we can find the same message in the bells
we hear on Christmas Day.







-- 
Joey Couch
phone 606-216-8033.
email ki4vjd at gmail.com
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