WEEK TWO | DAY TWO | ISAIAH 61:1-2
For many, sadness, grief and lament make it difficult to enter the joy and anticipation of the holiday season. This carol, adapted from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, expresses both the deep pain and the resounding hope Longfellow experienced in the death of his wife and the devastation of the American Civil War. In the full text, bells chime through the ages, moving us from despair to repentance to hope; and ultimately to the Prince of Peace.
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 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.”
Jesus meets us in our pain. But he does not leave us there. In the Middle East, house church leaders visited a father grieving the death of two of his sons. One of the leaders prayed, asking Jesus to meet this father in his pain. Overcome by a deep sense of peace, the father cried: “Oh Jesus Christ, I seek refuge in your embrace.” Afterwards, he said, “When you were praying, I had a vision of Jesus Christ saying to me, ‘Come to me and I will give you peace.’” Today this man and some of his friends and family are Christ-followers and have started a new house church. Pray for those feeling pain or loss this Christmas season and those who have yet to hear the good news that through Christ, God has drawn near.
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