Will You Be My Christmas Bell?

I learned a new song this past Christmas that may have become my second favourite Christmas carol of all time (the first being “Lo’ How a Rose E’er Blooming,” of course). As is the case with many famous songs, this one began as a poem. And, as is the case with many famous poems, it was born out of tragedy.

It was Christmas Day, over 150 years ago, when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sat down to reflect on the painful events that had befallen his family just a few weeks before. Henry, who was already widowed twice over and raising six children alone, had gotten word that his eldest son, Charles, was injured in battle.

It was the height of the American Civil War and 18-year old Charlie followed the call to fight alongside Abraham Lincoln and the Union Army. Although he didn’t see much of the war, in one particular battle, he was shot in the shoulder, narrowly escaping serious damage to his spinal chord. Charlie was brought back to Washington, D.C., to recover. It was there, in early December 1863, that Henry came to be with his son.

Henry was overcome by personal loss, his son’s injury, and sorrow about the ongoing war in the South. And yet, it was Christmas and the bells were ringing! It should be the day for everyone to celebrate the Light of the World coming as a baby to bring healing and hope to all; the day to remember that God kept God’s promise and that the Kingdom of Heaven was inaugurated here on Earth.

It’s as if a battle raged inside of Henry - as it does in many of us. The hope of God’s work in the world and the reality of life experiences do not always line up. Sometimes it seems like evil, death, hate, and destruction are winning; as if the light of Christ’s coming is being snuffed out. It is out of this tension that Henry wrote the iconic poem “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”

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.”

I don’t know about you, but my church doesn’t have a bell tower that rings carols on Christmas Day. There is no unbroken song which plays in the public square to remind us of the hope of God’s coming. But I do hear the songs of hate a whole lot. In fact, there’s no end to the ongoing violence, vengeance, disaster, pain, brokenness, disparity, division, and tragedy in the world. At times it feels far away, and other times, it’s my story too.

Oh, how I wish to hear the song of life rising up to drown out the noise that tries to claim God is dead. At my darkest, I need the reminder that God will win and that one day, all the wrong in this world will fail. There are times when I’m not strong enough to sing those songs - times when I need others to be my Christmas bells and sing the songs of hope over the songs of despair.

This, perhaps, is one of the most powerful functions of the Christian community: to be a people who consistently show up in the midst of death to sing the song of life, who remind a broken world that the God of healing is alert and awake, who confront division and polarization with the hope of reconciliation, and who stand in the way of hate and violence with the message of love from the Prince of Peace.

No matter how strong our faith may seem to be, we all go through times like Henry. But Henry’s despair was lifted as he heard the bells on Christmas Day. As lovely as the Christmas season may be, our world needs this message every day. And so, the more we live this song and the louder we proclaim it together, the more likely it is that those who need it will hear it.