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Recently the poem “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has been on my mind. When he wrote the poem he had a lot going on in his life. Go look it up real quick, it’s worth the read and the research details behind it.

In short, Mr. Longfellow was having a particularly difficult Christmas season. Two years before the poem, his second wife had died from burns after an accidental fire. The year he wrote the poem, his eldest son had gone off to the Civil War, which he did not approve, and returned with severe injuries. On Christmas day as Mr. Longfellow wrote his poem, he expressed how he felt hate mocking the song of peace that is so prevalent at Christmas. But after setting forth his lament and complaint, he adds that the song is not fully drowned out. In spite of all that was happening around him, he remembered that God was still there through it all, and he remembered that things will all be set right.

Even when it feels like there is no peace on earth, remember that there can be. God is not dead, He does not sleep, and He will set things right! Through Him you can have peace on earth now, even in the midst of hate and struggle!