{"id":55,"date":"2012-12-23T12:40:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-23T19:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/the-bells-on-christmas-day-the-song-the-story\/"},"modified":"2012-12-23T12:40:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-23T19:40:00","slug":"the-bells-on-christmas-day-the-song-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/the-bells-on-christmas-day-the-song-the-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bells on Christmas Day — The Song, The Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
(A Red-Letter Believers Christmas Tradition)<\/i><\/div>\n
\nOne of my favorite Christmas songs is\u00a0<\/span>I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day<\/a><\/i>, taken from a poem penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<\/a>.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

The poem was written in the middle of America\u2019s Civil War \u2014 and the despair engulfed the nation.\n

It was a time of personal despair for Longfellow. His wife had died tragically. After trimming hair from her seven-year old\u2019s head, she decided to preserve the clippings in sealing wax. Melting a bar of sealing wax with a candle, a few drops fell unnoticed upon her dress. A breeze gusted through the window and the flame engulfed her dress. In a few moments she was gone.<\/p>\n

Longfellow wrote on the first Christmas after her death, \u201cHow inexpressibly sad are all holidays. I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.<\/i>\u201c<\/p>\n

Almost a year later, Longfellow received word that his oldest son Charles, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, had been severely wounded with a bullet passing through his spine and killing him.<\/p>\n

Three years later, he began to feel some hope again. And on Christmas Day of 1864, he wrote the words of the poem, \u201cChristmas Bells.\u201d It\u2019s a reminder to all who have lost, that there is hope.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u00a0Christmas Bells<\/b>\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Their old, familiar carols play, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And wild and sweet \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The words repeat \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And thought how, as the day had come, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The belfries of all Christendom \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Had rolled along \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The unbroken song \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Till ringing, singing on its way, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The world revolved from night to day, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A voice, a chime, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A chant sublime \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then from each black, accursed mouth \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The cannon thundered in the South, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And with the sound \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The carols drowned \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was as if an earthquake rent \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The hearth-stones of a continent, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And made forlorn \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The households born \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And in despair I bowed my head; \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThere is no peace on earth,\u201d I said; \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor hate is strong, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And mocks the song \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!\u201d\n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGod is not dead, nor doth He sleep; \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Wrong shall fail, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Right prevail, \n

<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With peace on earth, good-will to men.\u201d<\/span> \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
And finally \u2014 the amazing rendention of Christmas Bells by Casting Crowns<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(A Red-Letter Believers Christmas Tradition) One of my favorite Christmas songs is\u00a0I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, taken from a poem penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem was written in the middle of America\u2019s Civil War \u2014 and the despair engulfed the nation. It was a time of personal despair for Longfellow. His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,136,387,420],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annunciation-to-the-shepherds","category-christmas-day","category-henry-wadsworth-longfellow","category-i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bells on Christmas Day -- The Song, The Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(A Red-Letter Believers Christmas Tradition) One of my favorite Christmas songs is\u00a0I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, taken from a poem penned by Henry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/the-bells-on-christmas-day-the-song-the-story\/\" \/>\n<meta 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