merry christmas
i hope all of you are having a great holiday season with family and friends. this christmas i’ve been thinking a lot about being grateful for what i have despite the many terrible things going on in this world. we are in a global recession and war rages in many parts of the world. i think the following poem by longsfellow has as much meaning today as it did when it was written 145 years ago:
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!And 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!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!Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
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!"
whether you believe in God as an omnipotent being or even just as a symbol for the inherent goodness that exists in the human heart, i think we can all agree on the message of this poem. i hope and pray that this christmas will bring a little more peace and good-will to this world.