Thought of the Day ~ by Wendy Barker
What is your favourite Christmas carol?
For some, it is singing “Silent Night” with a circle of candle-holding congregation members at midnight on Christmas Eve. For others, it’s a rousing rendition of “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, bringing people together to celebrate Christ’s birth. Or it might be a haunting solo of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. A full choir singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah is something to behold. And everyone has a childhood memory of doing the motions for “Away in a Manger”, rocking the baby and pointing to the “stars in the bright sky”. Familiar Christmas songs have a way of exciting us, uniting us, and inviting us to look above and beyond ourselves.
One of my favourites is seldom sung and not well-known, but it speaks powerfully enough to me that I have it posted on our family-room door at Christmas:
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
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 all.
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 all.
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 all.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
“God is not dead, nor does God sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to all.”
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolves from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to all.
~Henry W. Longfellow 1864 (adapted)
Words to Consider:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth into joyous song and sing praises.”
~Ps. 98:4