Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14
The Christmas carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is based on the poem “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He wrote the poem on Christmas day in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War.
Longfellow’s peace had been broken as his second wife of 18 years had been killed in a fire, and his son, Charles, was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church, Virginia.
Most of us are familiar with the carol. It begins with the positive message that Christmas bells remind us of the hope of the season, “peace on earth, good-will to men.” The initial tone was uplifting.
Longfellow’s poem then took a dark turn. He wrote two verses with specific references to the horrors of the civil war where he described how the cannons drowned out the carols of peace on earth. These verses were in the original poem but were not included in the carol.
The next verse describes his reaction:
“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!”
But Longfellow concludes with a message of ultimate hope.
“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.”
It’s such a basic message isn’t it? That in the midst of our troubles, when we’ve experienced loss, or when division and hate are overwhelming, we can be helped with a simple reminder. God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. We remember that we are not alone. God has not changed, and ultimately, the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
It seems to me that the last line of the verse depends a bit on us. This Christmas, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could show more good-will to others, even those who are different from us or who disagree with us. Showing acts of kindness or good-will toward our fellow men might help us experience a little more peace on earth. Of course, it would have to extend beyond Christmas, but it seems like a good time to start.
