Peace, prevailing

"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 os not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!'"
---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For those of you with extensive collections of Christmas music, you probably have several settings of this poem, called variously 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' and 'Christmas Bells', recorded by many different well-known artists. What I will wager is that you have never heard a recording that includes the first four lines quoted above. Longfellow wrote this poem, seven stanzas in all, during what must have been the darkest period of his life. Having recently lost his beloved wife to death, he waited word on the fate of his son Charles, a Union soldier gravely injured at the nadir of our country's history, the Civil War. Who could blame Longfellow for the statement, "There is no peace on earth"? For giving up on the promise of peace during a conflict that had silenced church bells far and wide? For doubting that Christmas held a meaning that included a dream of future peace?
Ah, but something in him, something there, heard bells. And they pealed peace. Not right-now peace, and certainly not logical peace; really, a peace that passed understanding. In our world today, peace often lies outside our comprehension. That 's why, here at Advent, and always, we must tune our ears, and hearts, to listen for the bells...