Nov
30
2016
The Sound Of Bells
Posted in Christmas 2 Comments
The kitchen floor needed to be washed.
I have to wait until the house is quiet before I get out the bucket and mop.
I have to wait until the house is almost empty.
Only then can I be sure that there will not be any feet on the clean floor.
I am sure there are women who wash their floors every week.
I am not one of them.
I have my spray bottle of white vinegar and water.
I can spot clean any time there is a need.
However, after a full house the days before and after Thanksgiving, the floor needed to be done.
I decided that I would wash them before I went to bed.
My husband carried all of the chairs into the dining room.
I lifted the long benches onto the farm table.
The kitchen looked bare.
No cozy chairs were around the island.
No long benches were next to the table.
Empty.
It amazed me that there was even a slight echo.
Why had I not noticed that before?
Probably because my kitchen is always full of something or someone.
I like it that way.
I washed the floors in the opposite direction.
Often, when I wash the floors, I go out of the kitchen and into the laundry room.
I end up by the back stairs.
I put all of my things in the car, so I can leave to run errands while the floors are drying.
This night, I washed the floors the opposite way.
I started in the laundry room and worked my way into the kitchen.
I intended to leave the bucket and mop near the kitchen entrance.
I intended to go upstairs to bed while the floors were drying.
It was then, I heard the bells.
The house was quiet.
It was much too late for washing floors.
My husband had gone to bed after he carried the chairs into the dining room for me.
Christmas decorations were everywhere.
Quite a few things have a bell or two attached.
I walked to each one.
The sound was not coming from any of the things I checked.
The sound was faint.
The sound was barely audible.
However, I heard the bells.
I was determined to find the source of the sound.
It was a gentle sound.
It was a soothing sound.
After a few minutes, it stopped.
I continued to mop the floor.
After a short time, the sound of bells began again.
I noticed that the sound happened the same time the heater turned on.
I was in front of my Hoosier cabinet.
A few more feet and the floors would be finished.
The sound of the bells was coming from the back door.
And then I remembered.
I have a door knob hanger that has three bells on it.
It was always hung on the back door so I could hear the children going in and out.
How were the bells ringing ever so softly?
I took notice since I wanted answers.
I waited.
The heater came on again; the vents on the floor had been removed before I began mopping.
The air coming from the vent was shaking the door knob hanger ever so slightly.
With each gentle movement, the bells rang ever so softly.
I stood there and watched.
I actually watched the three bells gently ring as the hanger hit softly against the back door.
I smiled at the sound.
I smiled at the gentle movement.
I enjoyed the sound even more since I now knew where it was coming from.
It was one of those little gifts that caught me by surprise and brought me joy.
The words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came to mind.
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!
Longfellow’s poem was simply called, Christmas Bells.
His poem has become one of our beloved Christmas carols.
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day is sung all around the world.
There was always a hint of sadness in my heart as I sang that carol.
It wasn’t until I learned the story behind the poem that the sadness made sense to me.
Longfellow’s son, Charley, wanted to become a soldier during the Civil War.
He was quite good with a rifle, though he had shot off his left thumb with a shotgun.
That injury kept Charley out of the infantry.
Longfellow was a single parent because his wife had died in a fire.
Against his father’s wishes, Charley tried to join the 1st Massachusetts Artillery.
The Captain did not want to enlist Charley without his father’s permission.
He wrote Charley’s father a letter, asking for permission and Longfellow gave his consent.
Charley had natural skill and ability as a soldier.
Quite soon, Charley was offered a commission.
Charley became a Second Lieutenant in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry.
Charley came down with typhoid fever and malaria, missing the Battle of Gettysburg.
It was during the Mine Run Campaign that Charley was injured.
He was shot through the left shoulder.
The bullet traveled across his back, nicked his spine, and exited under his right shoulder.
Charley missed being paralyzed by less than an inch.
A few weeks later, Longfellow received word that his son was injured.
He traveled to Washington, DC with his younger son.
They went to get Charley and bring him home.
As Longfellow took care of his son, gratitude overwhelmed him.
He wrote the poem we have all come to know and love.
Often, we fail to sing the other verses, which make more sense when you know Charley’s story.
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.”
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.
The sound of the bells reminded me.
I heard them ever so gently.
A whisper, an assurance, a promise of a God who is there.
Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.
(Hebrews 3:15)
I really enjoyed reading this today. Truth is in the details!
Thank you.
You are welcome, Pat!
God does not waste anything to teach us His truth.
Gina