I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The Christmas bells clanged brightly and cheerily on that cold December day, but there was nothing about that month of long nights that seemed bright or cheery to him.  No, December, 1863 was but another dreadful month.

In the course of two years Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's life had spun dramatically out of his control.

In 1861 his beloved wife Frances was sealing envelopes with hot wax.  It was this simple chore that sprang the seemingly downward spiral into motion.  While heating the wax a single flame touched her clothes.  Before she could help herself her garment was ablaze.  Henry sprinted to her and attempted to smother the fire.  He did, but it was too little too late.  Frances was burned so badly that she died the next day.  Henry was also badly burned and was unable to even attend his own wife's funeral.

His appearance mirrored his heart as he wasted away.  He grew a beard to cover the melted skin that disfigured his once proud face.  His heart and mind sank into a deep, dark depression.  On Christmas day 1862 he wrote: "'A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me."

Henry was a hardline abolitionist and raised his boy to believe that slavery was unjust.  Unfortunately for Henry his son Charley listened.  In 1863 Charley, against his father's wishes and driven by deep love of country and of justice, enrolled in the military.  Henry had to learn of this through a letter.  Charley rose to the rank of lieutenant.

In November of 1863 Charley Longfellow and his unit were engaged in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia.  During the battle a bullet went through Charley's back and into his shoulder while nicking his spine along the way.  Charley was on the verge of joining the 620,000 dead in the Civil War.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a man already deeply depressed and still grieving the loss of his wife, rode out to Washington D.C. to pick up his son that very likely would die.  On December 8, 1863 the pair returned to Henry's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts to attempt to nurse his injured son back to health.

December 1863 was a dark one for Henry Longfellow.

Those bells clanged merrily in the December air of Cambridge.  How could merry sounds ring in the air when cannons rang hellishly?

In the book of Luke the angel promised peace on earth at the announcement of Christ's birth.  Where was the peace?

It was as the heavenly sound of the bells clashed with the hell around him that words filled his mind.  Longfellow went to work writing the words that these bells inspired.  In December, 1863 he wrote and published "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

Let me share a couple of the verses from his poem.

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet 

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill to men."

On that December day with chaos swirling all about him, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found peace.  His sadness didn't disappear.  For years he wrote about his deep sadness about his wife's death, but that day he found peace.

Longfellow trusted in a God who brings a here but not fully yet peace.  He trusted in the Sovereign God that keeps all of His promises perfectly.  He believed that peace was inaugurated on that first Christmas day.

As we Advent we must never believe that the fullness of the promise is being experienced right here and now.  Wars continue, cancer grows, marriages crumble, wrong seems to win, pain and sorrow engulf us.  No, the promise is not fully here yet.  But in Advent we remind ourselves that the promise has be initiated.

True Advent is longing for the future fullness while striving to experience the foretastes we're graced with today.

"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." Luke 2:10-14

Let this song help you Advent well today.