December 25: Longfellow

MERRY CHRISTMAS! For our final day in 25 Days of Christmas, I've saved the poem that is the basis of my favorite Christmas hymn:

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 roll’d along th’ unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bower 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.”

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is my favorite Christmas hymn because of the hope it conveys. Also because of the story behind it. I invite you to watch this beautiful performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir telling Longfellow's story and singing the hymn. How sweet to experience his own personal realization of peace and hope through the words he penned! May your hearts and homes be full of this joy and the blessings of our Savior Jesus Christ on this day and always. Merry Christmas!