I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
When I was a young paperboy in my neighborhood in South Ogden, Utah. I would often stop delivering papers to hear the strains of church hymns played through the air by the local Catholic Church and their beautiful bells.
The Holy Family Catholic Church is very close to my home. On weekdays, I delivered in the afternoon, but I worked in the early morning hours on the weekends. During those mornings, I was pleased to hear the sounds of familiar hymns and some that were not known to me. But at Christmas time, I always knew every Christmas hymn that rang out over my neighborhood. And although I was a young man entering puberty, I could still be touched every time I heard those Christmas bells play.
One December, it seemed, I could not hear them. It was an extra cold year, and the additional winter gear I donned was probably the cause. However, I did not recognize that the problem could be so simple. I became worried that the church had stopped playing them altogether.
That same December, my mom asked me to sing with our church choir, which she led. Our little choir needed my brother and me to help add extra support to the small but dedicated tenor section. My brother and I added our clear twelve and thirteen-year-old voices to help fill out the men’s part. My brother had sung with them before, but this was my first time, and I was delighted to be able to sing with the adults.
It was the first time I learned to sing a different part than the melody in an organized group, and I was excited. We sang several standard Christmas hymns and new songs I did not know.
But out of the usual Christmas hymns, there was one; that stood out that year. I had never given it much attention before; it had never spoken to me like Away in a Manger or Silent Night had. It did not speak directly of the story of Christ’s birth but was based more on the concept of “peace on earth, goodwill to men.” The carol, of course, was I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
Instead of shepherds, wise men, or other elements of the Christmas story. This song shares the feelings of the author. When I heard the refrain, “…There is no Peace on Earth…for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men,” it saddened me. I remember my heart becoming heavy every time I sang those words. And in contrast, when I sang, “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth he sleep,” My heart lifted, and I felt greater joy than even singing “Joy to the World.” I understood the teachings of Christ in a new way.
For the writer of the poem that became this beloved Hymn, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the Christmas season had not been a season of Joy for several years. Before writing this piece of poetry, he lost his wife Fanny to a fire, and at the same time, war had erupted between the Northern and the Southern states. The first Christmas after the death of his wife, he wrote: “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays,” and later wrote, “I can make no record of these days, Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.”
On one Christmas, he wrote, “‘A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” And yet, after hearing of the possible fatal wounding of his son in the ongoing conflict and before it was certain that the war would soon be over, something stirred his soul enough to pen the lines “The wrong shall fail the right prevail,” and also “A voice a chime , a chant sublime, Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
This hymn has become one of my most treasured Christmas carols. It always strikes me that the bells continue to play, even though the world around them seems to be falling into darkness, pain, war, or whatever may be part of this life and its trials and tribulations.
One morning the temperature was a bit warmer, and as I rode my bike, I felt like I was overheating inside my bundled-up cocoon. So I began removing my hat and scarf that I had wrapped up around my head and let out the heat building up.
One of the stanzas from the poem that is not used in the Hymn is:
“And with the sound, the carols drowned of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
I think that sometimes I am like that. I am not saying that I have the troubles of Longfellow or even the trials that others of this day and age have. However, I am often overwhelmed by what life has in store for me. And more so, I sometimes look around and see what life has brought to others, and I feel “there is no peace on earth,”
To my delight, as I let myself breathe in the crisp cold December morning air, I heard the refrain of Silent Night ringing through my heart. It was just as clear as I remembered, and for the rest of my tenure as Burch Creek Drive’s paperboy, no matter how cold it got, I never bundled up so tight as to impede my ability to hear those Christmas bells.
And just like my youthful self from my paper route days, I have rediscovered the beautiful words from many years ago, written originally as a poem called Christmas Bells.
These same words, which opened up my heart to a deeper understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, have once again shown me that it is through Jesus Christ that we find peace on earth, and goodwill to men. Through the example of others and the bells of Christmas, I have found the Christmas Spirit again and again.
Can you hear the bells?
