Advent 2023

Week 3 - Peace

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phillippians 4: 6)

 

In 1863, when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned “Christmas Bells,” his personal and communal world were wrought with grief.  Henry’s second wife of 18 years had died two years earlier in a house fire, a freak accident started with a candle.  America was at war, and none remained untouched by the pervasive loss of life, and the decimation of land.  Henry’s own son had returned home, mortally wounded in battle. This was after he had enlisted in the Union army without his father’s knowledge, and left home without a goodbye. Henry was feeling the weariness of war and of personal grief.  Where can one find peace in the midst of battles, both inner and outer? 

Henry pondered this, first writing: 

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.

Wrestling with the dissonance between those old familiar carols and his embattled, embittered world, he responds:

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, goodwill to men 

In Henry’s dialogue with the Christmas bells, the bells have the final word.  

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor doth he sleep

The wrong will fail

The right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men

Right will prevail. Peace will prevail. 

It is possible for the world to be at peace and for me to experience inner turmoil. But this poem also reminds me that it is possible for the world to be in turmoil and yet for me to find inner peace–peace that makes no sense, peace that passes understanding.  It is a peace that is born of faith, faith that what is unseen and eternal transcends what is seen and temporary.

Prayer

God, this day, grant us peace. We long to receive your peace, a peace that is not as the world gives, but a peace that drives out fear, that we may serve you with courage. Amen.  

Today’s devotional was written by Greta Smith and read by Amy Large.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Christmas Bells". poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved Oct. 21, 2023.

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