|
|
 |
|
Have a Wonderful Christmas
by David Melson, Executive Director
December 2009
Merry Christmas from the Executive Committee of Affirmation! We hope that you have a joyful and festive Yule season and that you are looking forward to the promise of the New Year. We are very mindful, however, of the many who will not feel joy this holiday season, for whom the promise of Christmas and the season of hope will ring hollow.
One of the great classic songs of Christmas is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” whose lyrics were penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poet reflects upon the sights and sounds of Christmas morning and of the feelings of despair brought on by what should be a joyful day. Longfellow was mourning the tragedy of the War Between the States, but his words have fit many circumstances since. “I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play…the belfries of all Christendom had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.” And then he thinks of the circumstances of the country, the families torn apart, the tragedy and pain reflected in the faces of those dying all around him, the bigotry and oppression that had brought on the war, the senseless hatred, and for a moment becomes cynical and resentful of the song of the bells and of “Christendom” in general:
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.
Historians, and readers of Ohana News, will recognize one of the “forgotten verses” that has fallen out of popular fashion since the end of the war:
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!
Something then happens, and Longfellow lifts himself from his depression, his mood is “revolved from night to day,” as he senses in the bells, “A voice, a chime, a chant sublime.” The original final verse proclaims:
Then peeled 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.”
Today, the world is at war, in military conflicts overseas, and in a war for the rights of LGBTI peoples. Both battles are influenced by religious zealots. Both battles have caused despair, and despair brings its own struggles. We pray earnestly this Christmas for those who fight for their country on the field of battle, for those who stand up for freedom in any arena, and for those who fight the demons of undeserved despair. When hate is strong, when the household seems forlorn, remember that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.”
Reconciling a lifetime of beliefs with one’s reality can be a challenge for most of us at some point. When you can’t see your way, please reach out – whether it’s to a family member, a good friend, even a total stranger, such as the voice on the end of a hotline. You are not alone, not here. You have friends here that you have not even met yet.
Please, share your love with someone this Christmas. A warm meal, a hug, even a smile can be the greatest gift to someone who is hurting this winter. Please, have a wonderful Christmas.
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
War is over if you want it
War is over now
--John Lennon
|
|
|
