I Heard The Bells
The CHRIST Culture Blog | December 12th, 2025 | Rev. Dr. Carole Hulslander
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was filled with sorrow at the tragic death of his wife in a fire in 1861. The Civil War broke out that same year, and it seemed this was an additional punishment.
Two years later, Longfellow was again saddened to hear that his own son had been seriously wounded as a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac. Sitting down to his desk, one CHRISTmas Day, he heard the church bells ringing, and ringing. It was in this setting he wrote:
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 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.
At this CHRISTmas time whether you are in sorrow or in joy you can know that GOD is not dead, nor doth HE sleep. HE knows your every need and longs to comfort you and be that special friend you need. Seek HIM this year instead of the outward manifestations of the season. HE will give life real meaning and your heart real peace, the peace that passes all understanding.
LOVE CAME DOWN – A CHRISTMAS PARABLE
A man is climbing a mountain, at the top of which he hopes to find GOD. By ascending the heights, the seeker expects to leave all the cares and miseries of life behind in the valley. But while he climbs, GOD is coming down the mountain into the toil and grief. In the mists of the mountain GOD and the man pass one another. When the man reaches the mountain top, he will find nothing. GOD is not there. What then will he do? He knows the climbing was a mistake, but in agony of that recognition, will he fall down and despair? Or will he turn to retrace his path through the mists and into the valley to where GOD has gone seeking him? Love came down at CHRISTmas, but only a few perceived its coming.
John 12:44-46 Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
