I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day: Hope Born from Grief

 Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. We're in the Christmas season, and today I want to share the story behind one of the most beloved Christmas hymns ever written. It's a hymn that was born on Christmas Day itself—not in joy, but in the depths of grief. And yet it carries a message of hope that we desperately need to hear.

The hymn is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and the man who wrote it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of America's most famous poets.

To understand this hymn, you need to understand what Longfellow was going through when he wrote it. In July 1861, his beloved wife Fanny died tragically in a fire at their home. Longfellow himself was severely burned trying to save her. The grief was devastating. He wrote in his journal, "How can I live any longer?" He couldn't even attend her funeral because of his injuries.

Then, in 1863, his oldest son Charles—just 18 years old—ran away to join the Union Army during the Civil War. In November of that year, Charles was shot through the shoulder, the bullet narrowly missing his spine. He would never fully recover. Longfellow rushed to Washington to bring his wounded son home.

So picture Longfellow on Christmas Day, 1863. He had lost his wife. His son lay wounded. The nation was tearing itself apart in civil war. Tens of thousands of young men were dying on battlefields. It was a season of profound darkness and despair.

On that Christmas morning, Longfellow heard church bells ringing out across the land. And in his grief, he picked up his pen and began to write. The poem he wrote that day captures the journey from despair to hope that so many of us experience.

He began by describing the bells ringing out the familiar Christmas message of "peace on earth, good-will to men." But then his thoughts turned dark. How could there be peace when cannon were thundering? How could there be good-will when brothers were killing brothers? He wrote of bowing his head in despair, feeling that there was no peace on earth and that hate was strong, mocking the song the bells were singing.

But then came the turning point—the moment when faith broke through the despair. As Longfellow listened to those bells pealing louder and deeper, he wrote words that have comforted grieving believers for over 160 years. He declared that God is not dead, nor does He sleep. He affirmed that wrong will fail and right will prevail, with peace on earth and good-will to men.

Do you hear the power of that? In the middle of personal tragedy and national catastrophe, on a Christmas Day that seemed to mock everything Christmas stood for, Longfellow declared: God is not dead. He's not asleep. He sees what's happening. And ultimately, His purposes will prevail.

I’d like to read the words of this well known Christmas song. 

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.

I 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.

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."

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.

This hymn matters because it's honest about suffering. It doesn't pretend that everything is fine. It doesn't offer cheap comfort. It acknowledges the darkness—the grief, the despair, the feeling that hate is winning and peace is impossible. Many of us have felt exactly what Longfellow felt that Christmas morning.

But the hymn doesn't end in despair. It moves through despair to hope. And that hope isn't based on circumstances getting better. It's based on the character of God. God is not dead. He's not asleep. He's working—even when we can't see it, even when everything seems to be falling apart.

Maybe this Christmas finds you in a season of grief like Longfellow's. Maybe you've lost someone you love. Maybe your family is broken. Maybe you're watching the world and wondering if peace will ever come. Maybe you're tempted to despair.

If that's you, I want you to hear what Longfellow heard in those bells: God is not dead. He's not asleep. Christmas proves it! God sent His Son into a world of darkness, violence, and despair—and that baby in the manger would grow up to conquer sin and death and bring peace between God and man.

The same God who came at Christmas is still at work today. Wrong will fail. Right will prevail. Peace on earth, good-will to men—it's not just a wish. It's a promise that will be fully realized when Christ returns.

Merry Christmas, friends. May you hear the bells this season and remember: God is not dead, nor does He sleep. Peace on earth, good-will to men—it's coming.

Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations, and keep your hope in the God who never sleeps.

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