In early December 2000 I posted this to some of my friends as a Christmas card. When I look back now the school shootings of that year pale by comparison to more recent events and they seem like eons ago. The hatred for our president has risen to a fever pitch and culminated in the election. Judges are evaluated for their religious affiliation in direct violation of the basic law of our land, the constitution. How many of us really remember Columbine? How many in their pursuit of political gain have forgotten September 11, 2001, the Towers, the Pentagon, Flight 93? What I wrote is more appropriate now than a century and a half ago.
In early December of 1863 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned these words which are familiar to many of us. The song was performed that year and possibly for several others and then lay somewhat dormant and unperformed till a new tune was affixed to it in the 1950’s. I am not sure the original tune has survived but with the new tune it became well known. Two verses fell into disuse. I'll mention them later.
"I heard the bells on Christmas day...
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..."
This was a reflection of Longfellow's time. Let us stand briefly on that spot on of the timeline with him and see the world as he saw it. His wife had recently died. His son was wounded in battle and in a hospital. A war raged in his country. Were we with him a hundred and forty three years ago what would we have seen?
The sixty thousand casualties of the Battle of Gettysburg were vivid memories of the previous summer.
Men were dying daily on battlefields on our own soil.
The War of the Rebellion was now more than two years old and no end was in sight.
Men and women were still chained in slavery because of their color.
Hatred between brothers had reached a zenith.
These were probably the darkest days of The War of The Rebellion – recently known as the Civil War.
We see that war so vividly through his eyes in the almost unknown fourth and fifth verses.
"From each black accursed mouth,
the cannon thundered in the South.
And with the sound the carols drowned,
of peace on earth good will to men."
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
As if the 60,000 casualties in Gettysburg in early July were not enough November brought over 12,000 more near Chattanooga, Tennessee at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Other "minor skirmishes" contributed tens of thousands more. With the carnage could we fault Longfellow for being discouraged? "And with the sound the carols drowned." Knowing what we do now had he stopped writing at the end of those verses could we have criticized him? Were we writing this poem could we end with a like verse today? Could we be criticized today if we too loose heart? With hatred, strife, mall shootings, school shootings, church shootings, what do we think? But to do so we must forget Christ and His life on this earth. What if we were in Bethlehem 2000 years ago? Let’s move to that point on the time line. What would we have seen?
He came into a world that was full of hate and strife.
Roman legions occupied Jerusalem and ruled it with an iron fist.
Religious sects argued continually the insignificant points of the law.
Dishonest tax collectors extracted excessive tribute from the poor.
Thieves and robbers waylaid people on the roads.
Executions and imprisonment for minor crimes and at rulers’ whims were common.
Many who were there in 4 AD did not see the babe in the manger because of the noise around them. Others did not see Jesus because of the blindness of their religion. But let’s be careful in blaming them. If we were there, would we have seen Him? That thought is humbling to me.
It would be easy to look at the world around us today and be discouraged. With the corruption in our government, dishonesty in business, the decline of morals, fallen church leaders, abuse by the clergy, hatred, malice, strife in our land, terrorism, war, economic instability, it is easy to see nothing but the darkness. The hatred today has certainly tried to drown the carols.
Hatred for our president has hit a zenith.
Hated for Christians by other Americans has never been this high.
There has been no time since 1863 that one group of Americans has hated another group of Americans so much.
Places of worship are under fire both verbally and with firearms.
Businesses are caught in a crossfire from Christians and non-Christians and sometimes in gunfire.
Churches are burned because they are places people of different creed or color worship.
Men and women are killed for a pittance or because of hate.
A man's word and a handshake is no longer a bond. They have been depreciated to a formality.
A sworn statement that is a lie is not important even by corporate heads or government leaders.
Contracts are documents to be torn up or ignored.
Killing can be justified in the name of any God and even by some of those who call themselves Christians.
