Music Monday

In the winter of 1863, America was in the midst of a great and terrible Civil War.  A war in which brother killed brother, and fathers fought against sons.  The nation was divided, and on the verge of falling apart. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had recently lost his wife in a house fire, and his son-- who had joined the army in defiance of his father-- lay severely wounded.  It was in this context that Longfellow, in his despair, wrote a poem he called Christmas Bells.  We know it today as I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day. 


I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and mild 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."
Today, our country face much the same despair as in Longfellow's time.  We are as divided as we have ever been in our history.  We are facing almost certain economic collapse.  There is corruption in our government beyond what our forefathers ever could have imagined.  Indeed, we already live under more tyranny than they fought to overthrow. 

And there is an undercurrent of unrest among the population, leading some to believe that we may be facing another civil war. 

Yet, we have the same hope that existed in Longfellow's time.  God is not dead nor does he sleep.  The wrong shall fail.  The right prevail. 

With peace on Earth, good will to men.