For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Ephesians 2:14
I’m hearing people say they are having a difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit with everything that is going on in the world. But in reality it is nothing new. Ever since the Advent of Christ occurred there have been times when things looked really dark. One of those times was in 1863 during the Civil War.
Beloved poet Henry W. Longfellow was watching the world as he had known it fall apart. Two years before in April the Civil War began. A few months later, his beloved wife Fanny died after being burned when her dress accidentally caught fire. A year later he learned that his oldest son Charles had enlisted in the Union Army against his father’s wishes.
Two years later in November he received a letter that his son had been wounded and was in grave condition. Charles had been shot in one shoulder passed through his spine and went out the other side. Henry often visited his son in the hospital and his heart grew even more weary watching him suffer. On Christmas morning 1863 as he sat by his son’s bed he heard the bells usher in Christmas Day, and Henry got angry. How could Christmas still come when “since hate was so strong and mocked the bells song of peace on earth.” But as he listened in despair he cried out to God and he became aware that God cared and He sat down and wrote this poem.
Christmas 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!
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!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
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.”
You see Henry had remembered that God is not dead or even is sleeping. He not only has seen what Henry and the people of the United States have been going through, but He saw the dark times all of mankind has gone through since the beginning. And because of His great love for us He sent a Light to pierce the darkness, His Son Jesus who came to live among us, to be an example of not only how to live, but to see God the Father as He truly is.
Yes this world may be dark, but remember it’s in the darkness that light makes the most difference. Don’t add to the darkness this year, be a light instead.
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