This week I would like to reprint a well-loved poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. On Christmas Day, 1863, Longfellow was a widower and father of six. His oldest son had been paralyzed fighting for the Union in the Civil War. As Longfellow heard the bells that December day he observed a world of injustice and violence. He wrote the poem with optimism it would lead to a confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair.

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

1807 - 1882

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words r...