One of the seemingly strangest Christmas songs we sing is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The history of that song is mind-blowing. The relevancy to today is uncanny.

The poem was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a child prodigy. He started school at age 3 and was reading classical literature and writing stories by age 6.  At 19 the college graduate (my note: yes you read that right), became a professor at Bowdoin College. He married in 1831 but several years later his first wife became ill and died. It took seven years before he recovered enough from his loss to remarry.  He soon found fame and fortune as a result of renewed vigor. He fathered five children as well as writing classics like The Song of Hiawatha and The Courtship of Miles Standish. However, at the height of his fame and wealth and status, tragedy struck again. His wife died while lighting a match that caught her dress on fire.  And then the Civil War hit and his oldest son went to fight for the Union Army. On December 1, 1863 he received word that his son has been severely wounded and may be paralyzed for the rest of his life. He hated the war and what it did to his family and how it divided the country.  On December 25, 1863 he sat down and wrote the words to the poem which John Baptiste Calkin put to music ten years later.  {Source: “Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas”-Ace Collins-pp. 81-85} (edited by me to fit)

I suspect many of us could have written that poem. The loss of a spouse or a child. The dissolution of a marriage you had poured your heart and soul into. The despair from a seemingly endless war. Loss of a job and income. Long-term health crisis. The drift of a child or a loved one into an immoral lifestyle or an addiction. The list of “sorrow-makers” is endless.

Despair is knocking on the door, but those who are Christ-followers do not have to give in to despair. One of the poem’s final stanzas says, “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, goodwill to men.” {Ibid-p.83}

That is a promise from His Word. If you feel despair rearing up its ugly head and kicking you around, don’t give in.  God is there. Ask Him to come alongside you in a very real way (He is already there in the Person of the Holy Spirit). He has promised His comfort any time you need it.

May you know His peace and presence this Christmas season.