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The Washington Flyer
January 1, 2021
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:57
Special Christmas Season Message
In the winter of 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow left his Cambridge, Massachusetts home to care for Charles Appleton Longfellow, his oldest son and a member of the Union Army who suffered wounds while fighting during the Civil War in Virginia. As he nursed his son back to health, Longfellow took a pen in hand and wrote a Christmas hymn of gratitude for God’s providence in his life and hope for the days ahead.
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will 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, good-will 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, 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!
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!"
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!”
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