*This morning at church I sang one of my favorite Christmas carols, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, a fitting song for the second Sunday of advent, that focuses on Peace. This Christmas carol, based on the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is based on Longfellow’s experience during the Civil War, and what his heart was feeling at the time.
On Christmas day, 1863, Longfellow—a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him. He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. The theme of listening recurred throughout the poem, eventually leading to a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair.
I think we can all use the message of this poem and this song....in the world we live in today, as back in the days of the Civil War, we can all use a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair. Peace on Earth....Good Will To Men.
*Paul and I attended the sold out final of the three performances of Christmas at Sixth Street at the Sixth Street Theater in Wallace. Under the direction of Norma Douglas, and written by Douglas and Jesaray Harpel, a fun cast told the story of The Night Before, The Night Before Christmas Eve. Some of Paul’s drama students were in it, as well as some other people I have worked with on stage and in film. It was a fun show with lots of fun Christmas music and sing-a-longs to get you in the Christmas spirit!!
*When we got back home, Paul and I put some more finishing touches on the decorations for Christmas. Then we started preparing the tacos that we would be serving for our family dinner tonight. They hit the spot and were enjoyed by everyone. A family member had requested a copy of Mom’s famous Nuts and Bolts recipe, so I grabbed Mom’s recipe file to see if it was in there. It was!! And as I looked through the recipes, and Bill looked through the box with household tips, we had fun remembering some of the recipes made that were in the recipe box. Oh, and Nuts and Bolts were a Christmas snack staple around our house for as long as I can remember. Grandma Woolum was the one who discovered the recipe, and then Mom took over making them too, many years before it became more popularly known as Chex Mix.
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