CHRISTMAS BELLS

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men…Luke 2:14.”

Never a poet put pen to paper with more skill than Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a legend in his lifetime and known in many circles as “The Children’s Poet.” Until the release of the 2022 movie, “I Heard the Bells”, few may remember that tragedy struck in the Longfellow home on July 9, 1861. His wife, Fanny, was near an open window placing locks of her daughter’s hair in a packet, using hot sealing wax to secure it. It was never known whether a spark from a match or the sealing wax was the cause, but suddenly her dress caught fire and she was engulfed in flames.

Henry, sleeping in the next room, was awakened by her screams and dashed in to rescue her. He was severely burned on his face and hands as he tried desperately to extinguish the flames and save his wife. Fanny died in the fire and Henry’s burns were so severe he could not attend her funeral. After Fanny’s death, Henry seemed to lock the anguish within his soul. Life had lost its joy for him. His family could see his suffering in his eyes, and they observed his long periods of silence. The burn scars on his face made shaving almost impossible and perhaps were only exceeded by the scars on his broken heart.

Two years after Fanny’s death, during the American Civil War, Henry’s oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, joined the Union cause as a soldier without his father’s blessing. Henry was informed by a letter dated March 14, 1863, after Charles had left. Charles soon got an appointment as a lieutenant but, in November of that year, he was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church (in Virginia), during the Mine Run Campaign. It was thought at the time Charles would be paralyzed although he eventually recovered. This event only compounded Henry’s grief. Drowning in despair, he needed the peace only God could give to his children during such a time. Perhaps Henry sought the words of Jesus in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

While seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world observed around him, Henry heard the Christmas bells that December day in 1863 and the singing of “Peace on Earth” (Luke 2;14). But Henry observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. Desperately he tried to reflect on the joys of the season as he wrote the words:

“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.”

As Henry came to the third stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country. The Civil War was in full swing. The battle of Gettysburg was not more than six months past. The days looked dark. In those moments, he must have asked himself, “How can the last phrase of those stanzas be true in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son?” However, Henry lamented:

“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!”

Hate did appear strong to Henry as it is today and seems to mock the song of “peace on earth, goodwill to men”. But, Henry turned his thoughts upward to the One who solves all problems. From his pen flowed the words…

“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.”

The bells heard on that Christmas Day in 1863 had brought forth a light into Henry’s heart and writing which overpowered his darkness and grief. It was as if God the Father was telling Henry to look to His Son for: “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5) And in a moment of epiphany, Henry was overshadowed by a settledness of confident hope and peace even amid the bleak despair all around him. It is the same confident hope and peace the Lord offers us this Christmas Day. It is a peace and hope which caused the Prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament to say:

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places…Habakkuk 3:17-19.”

Henry, the widowed father of six children, titled the poem he wrote that day, “Christmas Bells”. The words were later set to music by Englishman John Calkin. The result is one of our most popular Christmas carols, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. Millions of children and adults, the world over, love this carol that brought this one gifted man from the darkness to the light.

So, on this Christmas Day be encouraged. The bells are still ringing and people are still singing. Peace and goodwill shall one day come when the Prince of Peace shall reign. Because of His birth in a manger, his death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead, we can proclaim: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men…Luke 2:14.”