12.25.2025 | Christmas Day

​I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
 
On this Christmas Day, as we walked through the Garden, we heard the church bells ringing the hour. Hearing those bells throughout the day is one of the quiet joys of living in our little corner of the city.
 
I came inside, poured my first cup of coffee, and turned on some Christmas music. The haunting hymn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” began to play.
 
As I sat listening and thinking about this past year, I was struck by how true Longfellow’s words still are for the world today:
 
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.”
 
It is much too easy to fall into despair. We wait. We keep listening. And the bells keep ringing, offering us a small, steady measure of grace:
 
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.”
 
This carol gives us hope. Despite the chaos. Despite the injustice. Despite the anger and derision. There is hope that the wrong shall fail and the right prevail. Out of despair comes hope.
 
On this Christmas Day, I am reminded of the power of faith even in the darkest of times. Pain can give birth to hope.
 
“Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
-John 14:27
 
Peace on earth, good will to men.