The Bells Will Always Ring

Yesterday in the Upper School chapel, we had our Christmas service.  We had wonderful singing of Christmas hymns, cadet Scripture readings, and a staff duet song.  I also spoke on the popular hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." 

The hymn is based on a poem, "Christmas Bells," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The sotry behind the poem is remarkable, and is very relevant to us today.  Longfellow wrote his poem on Christmas Day 1864, a few months before the end of the American Civil War.  The country was in its darkest period in history, and Longfellow was struggling personally, having lost his wife of 18 years a couple of years earlier.  His oldest son was badly injured while serving in the Union Army, and Longfellow saw very little hope in the Christmas seasons.

However, Longfellow knew the Christmas bells would always play.  Even in the midst of personal and communal darkness, the bells would remind Longfellow of the hope of Christmas.  Even in the darkness there was a faint glimmer of light - the one true Light.  The hope of Christmas took hold of Longfellow's life again on Christmas Day 1864.  His poem, printed below, is a journey through despair and an emergence into the ultimate hope.  Longfellow's words that Christmas day serve to remind us all that no matter how dark life may seem, there is always the Light of Christmas.  Because we have Christmas and Easter, we always have hope.

This has been a difficult week for this country.  A horrible tragedy in Connecticut has plunged us into darkness.  Looking back on this year, we may be reminded of other dark periods as well, both on a personal and a communal level.  A quote I saw this week reminds me to "never doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light."

With Christmas less than a week away, we look for the Light.  And the Light is there.  God was, is, and always be with us.  Emmanuel.  May each of you be blessed this Christmas season.

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."