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I Heard the Bells

"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!" Two thousand years ago, a silent night was shattered by the voices of angels announcing Jesus’ birth. Their words resounded with the promise of peace and good will for all people. Just after dawn on December 25, 1863, church bells all across Cambridge, MA, heralded the arrival of Christmas morning, inspiring one of the country’s most beloved poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, to write a poem that would one day become the carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” His words echoed those of the angels but also revealed the heavy heart of a man who wrestled with the promise of peace. The nation was embroiled in the Civil War and bitterly divided along political, racial, and philosophical lines. Furthermore, Longfellow was waging an internal battle of his own. A year and a half earlier, he’d lost his wife when her dress accidentally caught fire. Then his son Charley joined the war against his father’s wishes, and just before Christmas, Longfellow learned that Charley had been gravely wounded. Yet on that Christmas morning, Longfellow dared to claim the promise of peace. Today our world feels increasingly divided, battle lines drawn. And this Christmas season, many of us find ourselves wrestling with a lack of peace in our own lives. If the angels could declare peace and good will that first Christmas, might we claim it today, too?