We are joyously singing Christmas carols again this year. My ipod is chocked full of music and I keep it playing all day long. It has occured to me this year that God has protected the theology throughout the generations in these most beloved hymns. Delight your heart for a moment on some of these you're sure to recognize.
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come!"
"Yea Lord, we greet Thee. Born this happy morning!"
"O Come to us, Abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel."
"Thou didst leave Thy throne, and Thy kingly crown, when Thou camest to earth for me."
"Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing."
"Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see."
"Pleased as man, with men to dwell. Jesus, our Emmanuel!"
My favorite carol is "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day". It was originally a poem with 7 stanzas bemoaning his sadness at the state of the world. America was in the midst of Civil War. Longfellow's wife Fanny had tragically died in a fire, and he felt no peace at Christmas. Of course, the best is usually the last. Don't miss the significant last stanza which places all hope in God's Sovereign control. Hallellujah!
"Christmas Bells"
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)
"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!"
