"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

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!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Very few of us know that this poem was written 

during the American  Civil War

 No wonder Longfellow's pen had turned to thoughts of peace

And the familiar comfort of the Christmas Bells.

       peace may seem for you today as elusive as it did for him

   in the midst of war

For we all battle something

in fact, Wadsworth also said:

 and so this Christmas day

Seek peace and pursue it

Turn off the news

and the brash voices

 

Look for eyes that smile

and words that heal

 

Stop, and hear the music of the Christmas Bells

If only for a moment

and 

If only in your heart

Do you feel it?

That is the joy of Christmas!

And if you receive it

It is yours to have and to hold

And that's poetiquejustis

And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.

Psalm 35:9