Showing posts with label christmas carols. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas carols. Show all posts
"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 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 have shared the story of the beautiful Christmas Carol, I heard the Bells on Christmas Day, in my book, When Light Dawns, and today I wanted to share a bit more of it here on the blog. This beautiful Christmas Carol was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863, and came after a series of personal tragedies occurred in his life.
First, in the early 1860s, an unusual heat wave had struck Massachusetts, which affected Longfellow’s family. This prompted Fanny, his wife, to trim the hair of their 7-year-old daughter to help her feel cooler. Sentimentally, Fanny decided to seal the locks of hair with wax, but tragically, hot wax spilled onto her dress and caught on fire. Henry unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire with a blanket, and then tried stopping the fire by throwing himself on his wife, which resulted in his face, arms, and hands being burned. Heart-breakingly, Fanny Longfellow died the following morning from her injuries and was buried 3 days later on their 18th wedding anniversary. Due to his own severe burns, Henry wasn’t able to attend her funeral, but later was recorded as saying a line from his famous hymn, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
Shortly after this in 1863, Henry was informed (by letter) that his oldest son joined the Union soldiers during the fight of the American Civil War. In November of 1863, Charles was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church. These two events together, proved to be the foundation for Henry’s famous poem Christmas Bells, which was later put to music and became a famous Christmas carol.
I am so humbled that this post was originally shared over at Mundane Faithfulness in 2016. You can find the original guest post HERE!
First, in the early 1860s, an unusual heat wave had struck Massachusetts, which affected Longfellow’s family. This prompted Fanny, his wife, to trim the hair of their 7-year-old daughter to help her feel cooler. Sentimentally, Fanny decided to seal the locks of hair with wax, but tragically, hot wax spilled onto her dress and caught on fire. Henry unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the fire with a blanket, and then tried stopping the fire by throwing himself on his wife, which resulted in his face, arms, and hands being burned. Heart-breakingly, Fanny Longfellow died the following morning from her injuries and was buried 3 days later on their 18th wedding anniversary. Due to his own severe burns, Henry wasn’t able to attend her funeral, but later was recorded as saying a line from his famous hymn, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.
Shortly after this in 1863, Henry was informed (by letter) that his oldest son joined the Union soldiers during the fight of the American Civil War. In November of 1863, Charles was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church. These two events together, proved to be the foundation for Henry’s famous poem Christmas Bells, which was later put to music and became a famous Christmas carol.
The tragedy that Henry Longfellow endured—and so many others walk through—astounds and humbles me. It is a great reminder that a year can be filled with incredible losses and pain as well as joys and triumphs. Unfortunately, the holiday season takes no exception and can sometimes compound the grief that we have experienced.
Sometimes in the midst of pain, I have questioned what I really have to celebrate. Sometimes the pain can make it difficult to get into the holiday mood. Sometimes real life doesn’t allow us to have a Pinterest-worthy Christmas, yet what I am finding in the cracks and crevices of this Christmas season is that there is simple joy and peace to be found at Christmas.
In focusing on Christ and those whom God has placed in my path to embrace with grace and love, I see the hope of what Christmas is all about. In the midst of the incredible divisions in our country, I bow my head and think, as Henry did back in the Civil War era, that there is no peace on earth; yet the bells that echo throughout this season remind me there is much to rejoice in celebrating the birth of Jesus.
My prayer and dream this Christmas is that I will be preparing my heart as much as my home for this holiday season.
My prayer is that I will take the time to stop and love those who are hurting before me, as much as I take the time to decorate my tree.
My dream is that I will be challenged to give gifts not only to those whom I know well, but also to the hurting person who may need the physical reminder of Christ’s tangible love in more ways that I can imagine.
My hope is that the best gift I can give this year is more of God’s love and more of His grace each and everyday.
My wish is to remind those whom I love that the bells are still ringing with God’s grace and truth.
If y'all have been around this blog for even a short amount of time than you know that I love music ...and this holiday season has been incredibly special as every weekend has held a beautiful Christmas concert of some sort. Some have been local (and included a high school choir- which y'all know I would love!), some have been at a nearby university, and two weeks ago we headed up to Montreal for the CBC Sing-In which was so incredible!
We had never done this before and it was a little bit of a trip but it was simply delightful! The CBC Sing-In (it was the 39th year of it happening!) is Montreal's biggest and oldest sing-along which takes place at the Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul and also is held at Bourgie Hall.
Several months ago I was looking for holiday activities to do in the surrounding area and came across this event. The tickets (which are free but are still required to guarantee a spot at either location) went on sale in November and we grabbed a few- excited to experience this event.
Y'all... it was seriously just lovely. The concert featured a choir, the Sing-In Brass and percussion ensemble, and organist Jonathan Oldengarm and conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée.
If you would like to see more photos from the event (or listen to it) you can find more on the website HERE!
It was such a fun holiday event to do and we are already planning to go back again next year!
Happy Thursday friends! I hope your week is finishing up well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
