I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

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.

Most are familiar with the carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" as sung by Bing Crosby. This morning, as I dressed for work and contemplated the words of our Pastor this Sunday, the 4 & 5th stanzas hit me as they had not before. It was not the perfect phrasing and pitch of “The Bing”, nor the memories of Christmases past that moved me. Not the tree, the lights, the glitz. It was the reality that in our experience, for the most part, there is no peace on earth. There is the strong mocking of hate.

Not unlike the time in which Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the poem "Christmas Bells," upon which the carol is based. Longfellow wrote it on Christmas day 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War. The news that his son Charles had been wounded in battle compounded the great sadness of the loss of his wife two years prior in an accident at home.

Not unlike the announcement of the Lords birth. The words “peace on earth” and “glad tidings” are as out of place now as they were 2000 years ago in that Bethlehem field. The iron grip of Rome, the despotic rule of Herod, the uncertainty of tomorrow, all worked together to fill the heart with fear. Yet the truth remains,

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.”

The psalmist knew it and proclaimed:

The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.

Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.

The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.

Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 116:3-7 (NASB)

I pray that this season would be one of rest and peace. Not the worldly kind of “break in the action” that many will experience, but the supernatural peace of God as He dwells among us.