One hundred and fifty years ago, Christmas of 1861, the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was too filled with grief to celebrate. Only months earlier his beloved wife had died in a tragic accident. At the same time, the country was caught up in a terrible civil war, and it seemed to Henry that sorrow filled not only his own life but the whole world. He wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.”1
But several years later, as the war was drawing to a close and grief over his wife’s passing was tempered by time, Henry was able once again to have hope. In a renewed spirit of optimism, he penned the poem that we now sing in the beloved Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”
In writing the poem, Henry recalled the despair he once felt—when hearing Christmas bells chiming the old, familiar carols only reminded him that fear and hate seemed to have stolen any hope for peace. But then, as the bells pealed “more loud and deep,”2 the light of divine love began to glow in his heart, like the sun shining through clouds on a stormy winter day.
When personal challenges or the turmoil of the world robs us of hope and weighs down our hearts with despair, we, like Henry, can listen for the sacred sounds of Christmas. They sing a carol of God’s love and chime a musical message of faith that He is there, that wrong will fail, and that truth will win out in the end. We can take courage in the assurance of the psalmist that God “shall neither slumber nor sleep”3 but will always watch over those who seek Him.
Generations ago, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow heard those hallowed Christmas bells and listened to their sublime voice of hope. His faith was strengthened. He knew that peace and goodwill come to those who trust in God. If we listen, we can find the same message in the bells we hear on Christmas Day.
1 Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Samuel Longfellow, 2 vols., 3rd ed. (1886), 2:371.
2 Hymns, no. 214.
3 Psalm 121:4.
Broadcast Date 12-25-2011
Program #4,293
Musical Selection:
1. Hark! The Hearld Angels Sing
Felix Mendelssohn; Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
2. Joy to the World
Lowell Mason; arr. Leroy Robertson; Sonos
3. How Far Is It to Bethlehem?
English Carol; arr. Mack Wilberg; Oxford Univeristy Press
4. Noe! Noe!
French Carol; arr. Mack Wilberg; Oxford University Press
5. Ding Dong! Merrily on High (Organ solo)
Traditional; arr. Andrew Unsworth; Arrangement Unpublished
6. O Tannenbaum
German Carol; arr. John T. Bartsch
7. Spoken Word
8. Ring, Christmas Bells
Arr. Michael Davis; Arragnement Unpublished
9. Hallelujah Chorus, from Messiah
George Frederich Handel; Public Domain