Gentle Reminders

I have some flowerpots of Christmas bulbs growing on my kitchen counter-paperwhites and amaryllis. They are a gentle reminder that even in the deadest looking seeds there lies a hope of spring.

I also have a painting of Charles Dicken’s Scrooge hanging in my entranceway. When Steve gave it to me, he pointed to the red and green lining of the jacket and said, “ Remember, even in the most hardened heart there is still a bit of Christmas.”

Hanging on my tree is my favorite ornament, I purchased it in high school. It has the words of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” etched in the glass.” These are the words written in 1864 by Henry W. Longfellow, following the tragic death of his beloved wife in a fire and the recent return of his injured son from the battlefield at the darkest hour of the Civil War. In the moving last stanza is the reminder that even in our most desperate hours “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.

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 days had come,

The belfries of all Christendom,

Had rolled along, the unbroken song,

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from might to day,

A voice, a chime, A chant sublime,

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 hearthstones of a continent,

And made forlorn, the households born,

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair I bowed my head:

“There is not peace on earth,” I said;

“For hate is strong and mocks the song,

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.”

All three are reminders of the first Christmas message, "Fear Not--- Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men."