Gospel of Peace

Week #2

I heard the Bells on Christmas Day was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during a time of great tragedy in his life. Henry’s first wife had died from illness just a few short years after they were married, and his second wife accidentally caught herself on fire, dying in 1861. This terrible personal tragedy occurred just before America plunged into civil war, a conflict in which Longfellow’s 19-year-old son would be gravely injured.

Longfellow’s desperate question became: “Where is peace in this world?” On December 25, 1832, he put pen to paper in an attempt to answer the question.

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill to men.”

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound the carols drowned

Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill to men.”

Till ringing, singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day—

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”

Discussion Questions

Opening:

If you feel led, read aloud a word or phrase that caught your attention in the lyrics above.

Core Question #1:

Is there anything you would like to share about what these lyrics make you think about peace?

Core Question #2:

According to Ace Collins in his book, The Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas:

“In the original seven stanzas of ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,’ Longfellow focused on Christmas during the Civil War. In his lines one can easily sense the writer’s views of slavery and secession; his words divide the war into an effort of God’s love and understanding against the devil’s hate and anger. It would have been a poem completely void of hope, a testament to the power of Satan, if Henry hadn’t finished his work with two verses that embraced the thought, “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.”

Do you believe that Longfellow was able to find peace in the midst of his circumstances? Why or why not?

Core Question #3:

Read Mark 4:35-41. How do we see “peace in the storm” modeled by Jesus?

Core Question #4:

What enabled Jesus to live with such peace? What do you need to be able to live with peace in the storm?

Conclusion:

In a closing prayer, silently or aloud, ask God for whatever you need to feel peace in the midst of the storm you are facing.