Recently, our daughter-in-law, Andria, and our granddaughter, Hannah, sang the Christmas carol, "I heard the bells on Christmas Day,"1 as a special music in our church service. The words touched me
What touched me the most was that Andria shared the story of how the carol was written.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow experienced a great deal of personal tragedy during the Civil War. He wrote the poem on Christmas Day, 1864, in the heart of the Conflict.
His wife Fanny died after her dress caught fire on July 9, 1861.
Longfellow was also severely burned on his face and hands as he tried to put out the fire and save his wife.
Grief-stricken, Longfellow was so severely burned that he was unable to attend his wife's funeral.
He grew a white beard because the scaring from the burns made it almost impossible to shave.
His 18-year-old son Charles was seriously wounded in battle and nearly paralyzed.
Longfellow was a widowed father of six children.
Longfellow was severely torn as a strong abolitionist, wanting slavery to end. when he wrote the poem just six months after Gettysburg.
The words shift from doubt to faith.
Don't forget that about 750,000 soldiers died before the war was over.
There can only be peace on earth when the Prince of Peace comes to rule and reign because men constantly seek to be the best and the strongest. There seems always to be a war between people and nations, each fighting to put the other down and be number one.
But peace is coming through Jesus Christ and is available today if you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. The peace of God can rule in your heart today while we await the coming of the Prince of Peace.