Musical Memories

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.

I 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.

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.'

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.

"This carol was written on December 25, 1863, when the American Civil War (1861-1865) was at its height. The famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was saddened by the horrors of this conflict, for 'hate seemed overstrong at the moment.' His son, who was serving as lieutenant in the Union Army at the time, had been wounded. When Longfellow heard the Christmas bells chiming out, he came to the realization, from the depths of his despair, that 'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!' He believed that God is powerful enough to overcome the world's strife, and to bring peace and good will to Earth. And in ending each stanza, the poet stresses this idea with the phrase, 'Of peace on Earth, good will to men.' "

I was in 6th grade. We were learning this song in music class. I had never heard it before. I loved it. I could hardly wait to sing it for the program. Suddenly we were moving. It probably wasn't sudden at all. It probably just seemed like that to me. We were moving back to Minnesota from Arkansas to be nearer my grandparents. Grandpa S. wasn't doing well. We left just before Christmas - just before the program. It stuns me when I think of how strong some memories are. Every time I hear that song, I think of that missing school Christmas program.

Living in that northern Minnesota town was a tough few years (more about that in the next post). Dad was a pastor and this church was a very hard place to serve. We only stayed 3 1/2 years and Dad had to leave the pastorate for awhile to salvage his health. We moved to the Twin Cities, where he worked for Sears as a salesman, a very good salesman.

This move was good for us in several ways. One was the opportunity to be in a very good school system, with a great music program. I was fortunate to be able to play the piano for the choir in 9th grade. The same girl that I competed with for speed in typing class was my "rival" in music class. It made us both better than we would have been without that competitive spirit. I was to be the main accompanist for our Christmas program that year. I was SO excited and SO nervous.

Two weeks before the concert, I got sick. I didn't get well and bounce back right away, as normal. I was so sick that I was in bed, feverish, achy, had no appetite. In fact, my mother's Christmas baking made me nauseous. The light made my eyes hurt, so I couldn't read or watch t.v. I even got tired of "Little Drummer Boy," as my only entertainment was the radio and that song was played dozens of times every day.

It was a real blow when I realized I was not going to be jumping out of bed, dressing up, and playing for the concert. I was devastated. By the time I was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis, it was Christmas vacation and I was still miserable. I was sick for two more weeks, and it took me a year to feel strong again. But the biggest disappointment was missing that concert.

On a different note, last night we had our annual "Hanging of the Greens" at our church. As each element of our traditional celebration was discussed, we learned more about the history of that tradition.

"The actual origin of caroling as a part of the Christmas celebration is really unknown. Several countries have claimed to be the birthplace of the custom. From the first, music of some kind was a part of the church festivals in honor of the birth of Jesus. We know that caroling existed in Germany in the 15th century because Martin Luther wrote that when Christmas was celebrated he went with others from house to house and village to village singing popular Christmas carols. We could safely assume that caroling was first done by the Choir of Angels who sang, 'Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace and good will to all people.' "