Christmas Hope for the Hurting

 

Just a few Christmases ago, I was introduced to the carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” For some reason, this song had eluded my attention until it randomly popped up on my Pandora Christmas music channel. The powerful poetry of the song and the crooning voice of Bing Crosby jerked on some tears and put a lump in my throat. With the world in such turmoil and so many searching for answers, the song’s message said exactly what multitudes were feeling.

I did some digging and the story behind the carol makes it even more meaningful. The lyrics were composed by the famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. At the time he put pen to paper, Longfellow was at the peak of writing prowess. It was 1860, Abraham Lincoln had just been elected to the presidency, and there was a great sense of hope in the nation.

But things turned dark for America and for Longfellow personally. The Civil War broke out in 1861, and Longfellow’s wife died in a tragic fire. Longfellow had been so severely burned himself when he tried to save her that he was unable to attend her funeral. In a journal entry on his first Christmas without her, Longfellow wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.”

The next year he wrote in his diary, “A merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me.” In 1863 Longfellow’s son joined the Union army and was severely wounded at the Battle of New Hope in VA. Longfellow’s boy, Charlie, was nearly paralyzed by a gunshot and Henry sat by his beside for weeks praying for recuperation. On Christmas Day 1863, Longfellow gave vent to his feelings in this plaintive carol as he and the country lay in ruins. The poet feels like dropping his head in despair, but then he hears the peal of the church bells. Their triumphant ring reminds him that God is still alive and that means there is always reason to hope. He wrote:

 

“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.”

 

No doubt thinking about his country, his deceased wife, and his injured son, he continued:

 

“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!’”

 

But then, gaining an eternal perspective, Longfellow penned this hopeful conclusion:

 

“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.’”[1]

Even today, I think Longfellow’s words register with many downtrodden hearts. Some reading this are mourning the loss of a loved one, some are worried about constant stream of bad news and the discouraging direction of this nation, others are beset with more problems than they can count.

Even so, there is great hope in the Christmas story because Jesus was born into a world no less bloody and dark than the one we experience today. The Romans had put their boot on the Jewish people. God had not spoken by a prophet for 400 years. History was just one endless conflict of one kingdom overtaking another. For the poor shepherds in Bethlehem’s fields there wasn’t much hope in the world. Then one night an angelic host announced to them: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Despite all this doom and gloom – He came anyway! And the good news is that Christ will enter into your plight right now. That’s the meaning of Immanuel – God with us. -DM

---

[1] Robert J. Morgan, Come Let Us Adore Him (Nashville, TN: Countryman, 2005), 96-99.