God is not Dead nor doth he Sleep - A Reflection for Christmas, 2010

By -
In 1861, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, following the tragic death of his wife and the outbreak of the American Civil War wrote a poem entitled “Christmas Bells,” which has come down to us as the carol, “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” It tells of a man who hears the bells ringing Christmas morning, but the tragedy of his life has made him deaf to the Good News and glad tidings they proclaim:

“Then 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.”

For many, these words will resonate. For each of us there will be moments and events, both in our personal lives and in the world at large, that seem to rob us of our hope, and rob us of our joy. For many, a loss that occurred around Christmas time makes this season all the more difficult.

Yet, the remarkable Good News that rings out into the brokenness of our world and the brokenness of our dreams is the news of a God that willfully chooses to be with us when hope seems lost and joy forsaken. It is the news of a God who seeks us out, and allowing the pains of this life to take their course, offers a gentle hand, stretched out in love. It is the news of a God who, having journeyed with us through the changes and chances of life, brings new life and light to our hearts in the person of Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, hope returns and joy is rekindled.
That transforming power rings out in the final verse of Longfellow’s poem,

“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.”

Truly, God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The bells peal out for us this Christmas seasons with Good News and glad tidings of great joy. They chime a sound that recalls us to the reality of a Christ that is born into our midst, who not only journeys with us, but recreates us that we might indeed make the angel song of “Peace on Earth, good will to all people” our song, too.

May the Holy Child of Bethlehem bring you joy and peace this Christmastide.

c. 2010, the Rev. Daniel F. Graves

Comments

John Kean said…
Thank you Dan - a great message. More so because we lost a dear friend to cancer yesterday morning.

John
December 25, 2010 at 10:34 AM
Michael W said…
Thanks for sharing the link to this reflection with me, Dan. Peace and joy to you and yours.

P.S. I wish we could actually hear bells chiming in our modern world. It's very rare to hear a carillon anymore. :-(
December 26, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Was Peter Fishing Naked?

By -
Image
“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.” (John 21:4-8) When we preach on this, the last of the Resurrection appearances in St. John’s Gospel, we rarely stop to ask the question, why was Peter fishing in the nude? After all, the story from which this short excerpt is taken contains so many wonderful images on which we might otherwise preach: the multitudinou
Read more

Restoring a Reed Organ, Part 13: Recovering the Bellows and Exhausters

By DFG -
Image
 After we stripped the cloth off the reservoir and exhausters, we sanded them down so that they were nice and clean with no glue or material residue remaining   The bellows had been recovered in 1905 and the restorer had left a penciled note on the inside of the reservoir.  The exhausters, however, were original. They were "harmonium style", that is, with large ribs with leather hinges and leather gussets. The conventional wisdom as that novices like us should not attempt to recreate these on the first go-around.  We decided we would just recover the exhausters using bellows cloth (more on that, below).   We cleaned off the old ribs and sanded them down so that we could use them again in the exhausters. We then set them aside while we moved to work on the main reservoir. We rehinged the bellows board to the movable reservoir board (for some reason I didn't take any photos of that) and then while waiting for the hinge to dry w
Read more

Restoring a Reed Organ: Part 3 - Resources

By -
Image
Last time, I promised a post on the resources that we would be using to restore our Mason and Hamlin reed organ.   I got a little behind on that and we have now begun work on the organ, so here is a little “catch-up” post with the promised information. One of the gurus of reed organs was the late Robert Gellerman.   Gellerman has a very useful book entitled, The American Reed Organ and Harmonium , which not only gives instruction on reed organ restoration, but includes a detailed history of the American reed organ.   He also has a detailed chapter on tuning, as well as designs for organ benches, stop face fonts, and much more.   Gellerman also is the compiler of the Reed Organ Atlas , which is a directory of reed organ manufacturers, where they were located, and known serial numbers by years.   It is a very helpful resource for identifying and dating the old reed organ in the church basement or in the attic of the proverbial “Aunt Maude.” A book that seems to stir much contr
Read more