As Christmas approaches and many prepare to travel or visit with family and friends. Christmas is a joyful time, and as children are filled with awe and wonder by the lights and bustle of the Holidays, is so easy to get caught up by this and lose sight of what is the real meaning of the season. This reminds me of the opening scene in the movie How the Grinch stole Christmas which is filled with all the Who’s shopping and rushing to get the best deal for presents, especially the interaction between Cincy Lou and her father, in which she asks, “Don’t you think this is a bit much?” As she holds a mountain of presents, and the response of her father which is just a simple “This is what Christmas is all about”. By the same token Christmas can be a depressing season for some, especially for those that are alone or have lost a loved one recently. And to top it off, the constant, not-so-joyful news we see and hear daily, it may not seem that this is such a joyful season after all.
I cannot help but be reminded of the song “I heard the bells on Christmas day”. It seems that the lights, noise, and problems are so overwhelming that we cannot seem to remember what the celebration of the season is about, which is one of peace on earth and good will to man.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Friday, December 25, 1863, as a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observed around him that Christmas Day. He heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge and the singing of “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.The theme of listening recurs throughout the poem, eventually leading to a settledness of confident hope, even amid bleak despair, as he recounts to himself that God is alive, and righteousness shall prevail.
Quoting Cindy Lou as she asks the questions “Did Christmas change? Or just Me?” the reality is that Christmas has not changed, what has changed is us. As we make our final preparations for this Christmas season, let us remember what we are truly celebrating, and not be distracted by the bustle and noise. We celebrate Peace on earth and goodwill to man, because “For us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Amen.
Pastor Luis.
Within a decade (1872), the poem was put to music by the English organist John Baptiste Calkin for a processional, set to the melody “Waltham.”You can read the whole poem below and listen to a modern rendition of the carol.
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.”