31 Days to Christmas Day 20: Bells

Bells have been used in churches for centuries for various purposes.  They are used to call people to meetings, announce weddings, tell of funerals, and they have even been used as warnings.  The bells that toll on Christmas morning (or at midnight in some churches) are announcing the most important birthday that has ever been celebrated, the birth of Christ.  As you put out bells around your home or hang them on your tree this Christmas, give them a little ring and think about how you can be like a bell and announce the birth of Christ to those around you.

The song, "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day", has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I hope that as you read it, you are touched and you remember that God is not dead and right will prevail!

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!